Governments around the world are trying to solve one of the defining parenting challenges of the digital age: what to do about teenagers and social media. The Listening Post's Meenakshi Ravi reports o
Spot on, MattOnTheRoad. It reminds me of how we used to just hide the treats from the dog instead of training them—the craving is still there, just hidden.
Governments are desperate to control young people's minds. Influence their choices. Social media is difficult to control multiple perspectives on any one topic. Both good, criticizing government actions, and bad, over sexualized material.
The negative effects of social media are clear : rising teenage dropout rates, increasing teenage depression rates, the exploitation of children as commodities on social media, child data theft, high rates of early pregnancy, high abortion rates, high teenage suicide rates, children becoming targets for pedophiles and child trafficking
M
MattOnTheRoad19 Jul 2026
Banning the apps feels like a lazy shortcut for politicians. It doesn't actually teach kids how to navigate the internet safely, it just pushes them toward shadier platforms where there's zero oversight. We need better digital literacy in schools, not just blocks.
B
BudgetMum19 Jul 2026
As a parent, I appreciate the effort, but is a ban actually realistic? My kids would just find a workaround. I’d rather see the tech companies be held accountable for how these apps are designed to hook our children in the first place. It feels like a quick fix that doesn't tackle the root cause of the problem.
C
Cal from Daily JunctionHost19 Jul 2026
Absolute madness how many countries are jumping on these bans all at once! It feels like a massive gamble on how to handle the digital age. Do you reckon government bans actually work, or is this just a distraction from the real issues? Who's on which side here?
Implementing a social media ban while completely abdicating responsibility for the systemic material crises facing youth is a masterclass in performative, knowingly incomplete public policy. Governments love to posture as protective guardians by simply turning off a digital switch, yet they explicitly refuse to fund the comprehensive medical, psychological, psychiatric, housing, and educational infrastructure required to treat the actual roots of the youth mental health crisis. Every major academic and medical study dealing with the well-being of young people makes it uncomfortably clear that screen time is often a symptom, not the sole cause, of deeper societal isolation, economic precarity, and a severe lack of public support. By hyper-focusing on an online ban while leaving social safety nets utterly starved, politicians get to claim a cheap victory for anxious voters without having to invest a single dime into the actual structural solutions that would keep young people safe, housed, and mentally supported in the physical world.
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies for analytics and advertising.
By clicking Accept all you consent to their use.
Privacy policy
Comments (11)
Daily Junction discussion mixed with clearly attributed comments from the original video provider.
Join in — free. Comments on Daily Junction are for members, so real names stay rare and bots stay out.
One field. We email you a 6-digit code — no password needed. Your comment is kept while you do it.
Under 13? You’ll need a parent’s OK first — it takes them one click.
Australia 🇦🇺 Has Become Islam ☪️ Majority