Protecting young people from the harms they can experience online is clearly important. But with so much focus on a possible social media ban for under-16s, there is also a risk of sidelining better solutions.

A social media ban was just one of 12 recommendations the Education and Workforce Select Committee made in its final report in March this year.

Other suggestions included establishing an independent online safety regulator, regulating algorithmic recommendation systems, and investing in online safety education.

But the government’s interim response in June amounted to little more than an acknowledgement of the recommendations, noting it has “already acted” on some proposals – including developing a social media age restriction – and promising a more substantive response “in due course”.

The restraint is not entirely surprising. Online harm is a complex problem, and policy development is time-consuming. With an election in November, there is likely also little appetite for introducing major regulatory changes.

At the same time, the idea of an age-based social media ban loomed large over the select committee’s work and has attracted the most political and public attention.

That’s been reinforced by bans introduced in Australia and the United Kingdom, with many European Union countries (including Spain, Greece, Poland and Denmark) considering similar........

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