Currently, governments in more than a dozen countries are trying to limit minors’ access to social media.
These include France, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom. Germany is also considering taking action.
Australia became the first country in the world to ban social media for users under the age of 16 in late 2025. Indonesia also implemented age limits in late March.
The purpose of such legislation is to protect young people, which seems logical since children’s screen time, which is often excessive, can create conflict in many families. according to a 2025 study by the 38-member Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Half of all 15-year-olds in OECD countries spend at least 30 hours a week on digital devices.
Despite this, the question remains: are age limits really the best way to address the negative effects of social media?
‘It is easier to attract attention by demanding age limits’
Psychologist and neuroscientist Christian Montague believes the debate has missed the point. “When new technologies come out, moral panic immediately spreads,” said Professor of Cognitive and Brain Sciences at the University of Macau, China. “And that doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns among politicians, but it’s also very easy to immediately increase your visibility without doing anything other than banning social media.”
Educational researcher Nina Kollek also views this debate with skepticism. Kollek, a professor of educational and socialization theory at the University of Potsdam in Germany, said Australia has shown that it is not so easy to cross the age limit. But “we still haven’t solved the real fundamental problems with social media, we just raised the minimum age for entry a little bit.”
The problems start with potentially addictive personalizing algorithms and gimmicks, like push notifications and endless scrolling, that are designed to keep users locked into a given platform for as long as possible.
Additionally, once on the platform, users may encounter violent or sexual content, Kolleck said.
Although digital media give children and young people the ability to inform, play and meet themselves, OECD studies show that excessive use can have negative consequences. These range from physical problems like insomnia and lack of mobility to problems like cyberbullying, social isolation and depression.
Montag says it’s often difficult to isolate the exact effects of social media because other factors like environment and genetics also play a role. However, the relationship between excessive or addictive smartphone use and poor academic performance is relatively well documented. The same applies to feelings of physical deviance among social media users.
Adults have trouble controlling their screen time
Montag says children and teens are especially vulnerable to the negative effects of social media.
“The human brain requires a relatively long time to develop,” he said. “Our guess is that the prefrontal cortex doesn’t fully develop until a person’s late 20s or perhaps mid-20s.”
“This means it is harder for minors to control themselves, and they find it more difficult than adults to turn off their phones.”
But adults are not much better. Many people above the age of 20 also struggle with problems related to social media.
This raises the question, do restrictions on social media for children under 14 or 16 really make a big difference?
Experts say there is a need to expand this debate. Many see age restrictions as one of many necessary measures. For example, Kollek describes it as a “pseudo-debate that distracts from truly effective tools”.
There are a lot of good intentions in the Digital Services Act
Kollek says many effective measures are contained in the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU’s legal framework for digital services, which requires large online platforms and search engines to offer more protection to users – forcing TikTok, Instagram and others to systematically rank and mitigate risk, as well as demanding transparency regarding their algorithms.
The DSA also requires companies to provide access to their data to independent researchers, allowing external monitors to examine how certain features or elements affect users. This has been the biggest problem by far, says Montag: “For years, we had to fight with both hands tied behind our backs. And despite the introduction of DSA, access is still completely inadequate.”
DSA has failed to prove itself effective or has not been fully implemented in other areas as well. US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly attempted to defend US tech companies against massive EU fines with the threat of punitive tariffs, is creating another problem. Of course, in the end, the DSA only applies to EU countries.
a problematic business model
Reducing and modifying some design features for younger users could be another way to fight the negative effects of social media. As of Monday, Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, offers an under-14 version of the app that allows only 40 minutes of scrolling. After that, it does not display any new content.
There are already time limits on TikTok, although they are easy to turn off. Children under 13 are theoretically required to have a code entered into their device by a legal guardian if they want to remain on the device for an extended period of time. From the age of 13, kids have to set their own code if they want to scroll. This only works if they haven’t already said they are older than they are. However, this is often the case as you can enter any birthday of your choice when creating an account.
In the end, the platforms will have to be set up fundamentally differently, Montag says, especially for kids, but also for adults. “Is the data business model that spies on users and maximizes time online inherently unhealthy? Yes. I don’t really need to wait for scientific studies on psychological problems.”
Beyond discussions about age limits and other measures aimed at promoting general media competence in society, pressure will have to be put on all platforms and they will have to be strictly regulated: “Other social media models will have to be financed differently – if no longer data-based, then perhaps by subscription,” he suggests. “And if platforms are no longer designed to keep people glued to their screens, they will also be a lot more boring.”
This article was originally published in German.