YouTube’s CEO Neal Mohan is the latest in a line of tech bosses who have admitted to limiting their children’s social media use, as the harms of being online for young people have become more evident.
Mohan, who took the helm of YouTube’s leadership in 2023, was just named Time’s 2025 CEO of the Year. He said in an interview with the magazine that his children’s use of media platforms is controlled and restricted.
“We do limit their time on YouTube and other platforms and other forms of media. On weekdays we tend to be more strict, on weekends we tend to be less so. We’re not perfect by any stretch,” Mohan said in one TikTok video posted by Time Magazine on Thursday.
He stressed “everything in moderation” is what works best for him and his wife, and that extends to other online services and platforms. Mohan has three children: two sons and one daughter.
Experts have continued to sound the alarm on how excessive smartphones and social media use has harmed children and teenagers. Jonathan Haidt, NYU professor and author of “The Anxious Generation,” has advocated for children to not have smartphones before the age of 14 and no access to social media before the age of 16.
