Social Media

Most Young Australians Successfully Evade the Country's Social Media Ban

The anxious generation is proving more tech savvy than regulators.

J.D. Tuccille | 4.17.2026 7:00 AM

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(Illustration: Pawinee Jaruwaranon/Wachiwit/Dreamstime)

Among the great many bogeymen of the current moment is social media, which stands accused of making young people anxious and unhappy. Whatever the merits of those charges—and they're debatable—politicians have predictably tried to address concerns by applying the blunt instrument of coercive law to kids' online activities rather than simply let parents help their children make better choices. The experience in Australia now shows the subjects of the law have, once again, proven cleverer than law enforcers.

You are reading The Rattler from J.D. Tuccille and Reason. Get more of J.D.'s commentary on government overreach and threats to everyday liberty.

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Would-Be Internet Regulators Target Troubled Youths

Generation Z is famously more anxious than older generations and subject to increased mental health issues. And never mind that young people have been raised in a chaotic world and were isolated from normal social interactions by public health officials for part of their childhood—the problem must be the online world which they're immersed in.

Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt gets much of the credit (or blame) for laying the fault at the door of the internet. The author of the 2024 bestseller The Anxious Generation, Haidt believes digitally focused lives have done harm to young people and calls for restrictions (imposed by parents or government) on minors' use of smartphones and........

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