Australia’s world-first social media ban for under-16s takes effect in less than a fortnight. Meta has promised to shut down teen accounts on Instagram and Facebook a week early. The federal government ban, which arose out of strong community sentiment around protecting young people from the online world following increased attention on incidents of self-harm and suicide, cyberbullying and grooming, has been backed by the majority of Australians.

But in all the recent heated debate over implementation and privacy concerns, we’ve been fixated on what we’re taking away. A more urgent question has barely rated a mention – what are we putting in place instead?

Third spaces where young people gathered have been lost and boys need support more than ever.Credit: Istock

For young men, the stakes are high. In a cultural moment sparked by the release of Netflix’s Adolescence earlier this year and a narrative claiming that “the boys are not alright”, there has been a new focus on the exposure of young men to misogynistic “manosphere” influencers and extremist content. But I’m not seeing much effort at understanding what’s happening in their lives.

If we think a social media ban will make these problem go away, consider the numbers: research from our team shows that daily, young men aged 12-17 spend an average of 100........

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