Majority of U.S. adults support social media bans

Amid ongoing discussion around teenage social media bans and measures to protect young users online, Pew Research conducted a survey of more than 9,000 U.S. adults to get their perspectives on potential restrictions, and gauge support for implementation.

And the results were definitive.

Sixty percent of those surveyed said they would support teen social media usage restrictions, while only a fifth of respondents definitively opposed bans for young users.

The numbers highlight why this is such a hot-button issue now, as more regions look to follow Australia’s lead in implementing legal social media usage restrictions for young users.

Australia implemented its under-16 social media ban in December, though initial results suggest that the ban is having little impact when it comes to curbing young users from accessing social apps.

Even so, several additional countries have since announced their own plans for more stringent teen social media restrictions.  

Last month, the U.K. government announced its plan to ban teenagers from livestreaming social media apps, while Turkey, Canada and many other regions are also pushing ahead with their own approaches to similar restrictions.  

In the U.S., California and Florida have moved to implement their own teen social media restrictions, with the response data from Pew indicating that many Americans want other states to follow suit.

In terms of which groups, exactly, are in support of teen social media bans, the data is also definitive.

Pew also notes that the sentiment around teen social media restrictions has changed significantly since it ran a similar survey in 2023.

However, despite the biggest live activation of teen social media restrictions showing that those efforts have had little impact, most people still support teen social media bans. That’s presumably because, at least perceptually, it’s supposed to get kids off their devices and back out into the real world.

But really, that’s not the way it’s going to work.

The way people interact has evolved, and meeting up in real life just isn’t the same as it was in the past. This was solidified by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many kids online as their only means of social connection. That, in turn, reinforced the value of engaging through gaming worlds and social media apps.

Having these options available has embedded social media apps as a key interactive processes. The next generation of kids have been raised with these options always available to them, as a means to connect, interact, make friends and get support.

It’s impossible to reverse course now. The only way to remove this as an option would be to remove the internet altogether. That’s because while the option to connect via online apps remains available, kids will find a way to use it.

Restricting certain apps will only push young users to other platforms, potentially with fewer safeguards and protection systems. Meanwhile, these bans don’t account for connection via gaming consoles or messaging apps.

Restrictions can make it harder for kids to use connective tools, but children are far too tech-savvy to be cut off completely. So while some of their friends are online, they’re going to want to be in the same spaces.

Does that mean that governments should give up and concede that kids are going to access concerning content in social apps, and potentially be exposed to predators online?

No, but the real answer will likely come from more uniform approaches to online safety, which hold all platforms accountable to the same standards for protecting youngsters from harm. More standardized options might also address the incentives that lead to algorithmic amplification of divisive, sometimes dangerous content.