Amnesty International recently gathered a group of young people from around the world in Kenya to discuss their experiences on social media amid a push for teenage social media bans by governments across the world. Australia and Indonesia have already put restrictions on young people’s use of social media. UK announced a social media ban for children under 16 on 15 June 2026.
Over 40 countries are considering bans. The proposals are driven by concerns about young people’s exposure to adult content, self-harm material, mental health impacts, cyberbullying, and online grooming. Amnesty International opposes social media bans because they are an ineffective quick fix out of step with the realities of a digital generation. The most effective way to protect children and young people online is by protecting all social media users through better regulation, stronger data protection laws and better platform design. Amnesty International is calling for strong and enforceable platform regulation, including restrictions on profiling-by-default, hyper-personalized recommendation systems, autoplay, infinite scroll and other manipulative design features, alongside stronger protections for children’s privacy and safety online.
