ON MONDAY, THE UK voted against implementing a social media ban for under-16s. There was the expected knee-jerk hyper moral reaction that is always expected when there are children involved – won’t somebody think of the children?

It is very difficult to remove emotion from the conversation when the safety and rights of children are involved, which is completely understandable. Most people want children to be safe and kept away from harm.

But it’s important too to interrogate policies like this in an honest way, and free from the emotional weight of instinct that comes with implementing a blanket ban on access to social media for children. We need to delve into solutions that will actually keep children safe in this digital age without compromising our privacy, online anonymity and security rights.

Calling for an outright ban on social media for children seems, on the face of it, the right thing to do. At this point, we are all aware of the much-documented issues with social media and living a digital life. Implementing a ban for under 16’s feels like we’re at least doing *something*. We’re restricting their exposure to harmful material. Governments can say they’ve tried to protect children without actually having to deal with defining what constitutes harmful material and who gets to decide where that line is.

However, as we’ve seen consistently with prohibition, outright bans don’t work. In countries where similar bans have been introduced, searches for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have increased. When the Online Safety Act went into effect in the UK in July 2025, one provider, Proton VPN, reported that its signups surged by 1400%,  whilst VPN apps became the most downloaded on Apple’s App Store. There, the NSPCC children’s charity warned a ban could drive teenagers into unregulated corners of the internet.

Closer to home, Children’s Rights Alliance, Online Safety Coordinator Noeline Blackwell says a ban “punishes children for the fixable faults created by the tech giants by denying them the social engagement that is some of the best parts of social media.

“A ban does not provide the clubs, the youth workers, the safe playgrounds, the links to their families and friends in the offline world that might nourish and support children,” and that a ban could drive them to “socialise in secretive ways which predators use to groom children for sexual and financial abuse”.

Jeff Guenther, also known as popular online therapist TherapyJeff, said, “Kids who need the phones most- queer kids in unsupportive homes; kids with absent parents; kids who found their only community online – are the........

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