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Banning Kids from Social Media Won’t Keep Them Safe

What young people really need is to learn how to navigate the internet responsibly

I was born in the late ’90s and grew up with social media. By the time I was ten, my friends and I were exchanging “new” internet slang and emojis on MSN messenger; at thirteen, I was sharing filtered selfies on Instagram and Snapchat. And while I shouldn’t have gotten a Facebook account until I was thirteen, I opened one when I was ten by simply lying about my age.

Looking back, I wonder if I would’ve been better off without the constant connection—if I didn’t have to deal with the pressure to constantly update my Facebook status or the school bullies feeding the rumour mill after hours.

Younger generations might not have to. On June 10, the House of Commons introduced Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, which, among other measures, would force social media platforms to restrict accounts for those under sixteen, unless the platforms can establish safeguards to protect kids from harm. But those exemptions and their safeguards haven’t been defined nor have the consequences been clearly laid out for kids who, like me, manage to skirt the age restrictions. Canadians generally support the proposed ban, according to some polls, but critics have pointed out the challenges of forcing tech platforms to comply, not to mention the near impossibility of getting kids to follow rules.

So would age restrictions make social media any safer for kids and young teens? For a nuanced perspective on the issue, I reached out to Danielle M. Law, a psychology professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, whose research focuses on how internet socialization affects cognitive and emotional development in young people. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

How effective do you think this ban could be?

At first glance, the ban sounds like a good idea. We need to protect our kids, there’s a lot of garbage online, and it’s........

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