On Nov. 8, 2024, the Australian Press announced a national plan, unanimously backed by Australia’s states and territories, that prohibited the use of many social media platforms for residents under the age of 16. However, despite the Australian public’s overwhelming favor for enacting such reforms, the increased scrutiny on social media’s negative effects has only kindled debates throughout legislative bodies across the world.
Australian legislators will introduce the heightened social media regulations to the parliament in late November, with the bans taking effect one year after its installation. In addition to these regulations, legislators also plan to enact changes to the Australian Online Safety Act, requiring enforced prevention of harmful practices like predatory behavior, cyberbullying, and algorithm-induced addiction by social media platforms.
Global critics have appraised Australia’s actions as “world-leading” and “revolutionary” in the fight against social media addiction.
However, the negative stigma surrounding adolescent social media usage is not a new trend.
In the United States, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill earlier in May to completely ban any adolescent under the age of 14 from owning or creating a social media account. Similarly, California governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill in September to prevent social media platforms from utilizing an “addictive feed” on minors, unless they have obtained parental consent.
Major concerns primarily arise from the spike of adolescent depression, anxiety, and other detrimental behaviors in the last decade, which psychiatrists and mental health experts have attributed to the progressively earlier introduction of social media within younger children.
In a 2023 study retrospectively analyzing how social media develops into addiction, Italian researchers discovered a “significant” correlation between high activity on social networks and low RSES self-esteem scores. Moreover, in a 2024 study from the journal Frontier in Psychiatry, Turkish researchers attributed problematic internet usage with negative coping strategies—the practice of escapism and its impairment on real-world functionality.
Today, while the neurological process behind addiction remains an ongoing field of research, mental health experts have a solid understanding behind social media’s connection with poor mental health.
“Certainly it starts with unhealthy comparisons,” said Upper School counselor Marguerite Spiotta Booth. “Young women, for example, looking at unrealistic, idealized images of other people on social media, may develop an obsession with one ‘type’ of body and, in extreme cases, turn to detrimental practices like eating disorders and self-inflicted harm.”
Spiotta Booth explained how attachment to an idealized and unrealistic body image, typically promoted throughout the medium of social media, results in unhealthy comparisons. Such comparisons may cause psychological conditions like body dysmorphic disorder or social anxiety disorder, leading to negative impacts on mental health and, in extreme cases, self-inflicted harm.
Nevertheless, a large portion of academia has pushed against Australia’s plans for regulating social media.
Beyond privacy and efficacy limitations, critics label the regulations as “too impulsive” to create lasting effect. Despite the recognition of social media’s harmful effects on mental health, many critics advocate for a “balanced” approach instead, citing the importance of digital literacy.
“It just plays such an integral role in how we function these days,” said Westminster’s social media and broadcasting team leader senior Palmer Routh. “I think kids should be outside, having a good time, playing sports, instead of scrolling through platforms like TikTok… but if you never let a kid have social media, they’ll just never be prepared for, ironically, the real world.”
Critics also raise concerns about underlying problems within modern culture and the large tech companies that run such platforms.
“It’s definitely important to remember that the problematic usage of social media isn’t particular to the youth,” said Upper School sports counselor Jeremiah Neal. “While the emphasis is definitely centered around users under the age of 25—likely because of their stage in brain development—the problem is universal to all social media users, including adults.”
The overemphasis on government regulations for adolescents may overshadow the inherent responsibilities for social media companies to protect their users from addiction. A reliance on government regulation may not correct deep-rooted issues with the employment of addictive algorithmic feeds, which are optimized to maximize profit through user retention.
It remains unclear today whether other countries will adopt such policies. Even more uncertain is whether these measures will effectively address the decline in adolescent mental health.
Regardless, however, mental health counselors encourage adolescents to prioritize awareness and evaluate personal goals before all.
“Take a look at your screen time and ask yourself if it aligns with your values,” said Spiotta Booth. “Not only will it reveal what direction you should take regarding social media usage, you are also ‘preserving’ yourself amongst the masses.”
Edited by Chris Qin
