• A drastic measure with potential benefits and drawbacks 
• Must consider each adolescent’s needs and circumstances and unintended consequences of a ban such as stifling oppos. for growth, expression, learning
• Alternative approaches worth exploring include robust parental controls, stricter content moderation, cyber security edu., digital literacy progs., and promoting mindful use

Since a social media ban for teenagers is a drastic measure with potential benefits and drawbacks and one which must consider each adolescent’s needs and circumstances and the possible unintended consequences of a ban, exploring alternative approaches like robust parental controls and stricter content moderation, cyber security education and digital literacy programs, and promoting mindful use may be more effective in addressing the potential negative impacts of social media while still allowing adolescents to benefit from its positive aspects.

These points were made in an opinion on "Scroll control: Should Sri Lanka enforce a social media ban for minors?" which was authored by R. Sundararaj, N. Udakumbura and M. Chandradasa (all three attached to the Colombo North Teaching Hospital’s Kelaniya University Psychiatry Unit, with Chandradasa also attached to the said University’s Psychiatry Department), and L. Rathnayake (attached to the Medihelp Hospitals Group, Colombo), and published in the Sri Lanka Journal of Psychiatry's 16th Volume's Second Issue.

Social media ban in Australia

In November 2024, Australia’s Parliament passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill, setting a minimum age of 16 for social media access. This Amendment to their Online Safety Act of 2021 mandates social media platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram to take reasonable steps to prevent minors under 16 from creating accounts. Non-compliance could result in penalties of millions of Dollars, pushing platforms to implement robust age assurance technologies. The question arises: should Sri Lanka adopt a similar stance?

Online safety in SL

The United Nations Children's Fund's (UNICEF) "Keeping children safe and empowered online: A study on internet use and online safety of children in Sri Lanka" report published in 2018 revealed that 52.8 per cent of young people access the internet, with the average age of first access being 13 years. However, the Online Safety Act, No. 9 of 2024, is the only legislative defence at the country's disposal to regulate online communication and enhance internet safety within the country. This Act allowed for the establishment of the Online Safety Commission, with plans to combat cybercrime, including discriminatory speech, child abuse, and online fraud. However, critics express concerns that it may suppress the freedom of expression and stifle dissent, and it does not address the question of a minimum age for access to social media.

Impact on adolescents

There are several risks associated with social media use among children and adolescents in the neurobiological and psychosocial domains. Screen media activity has been found to alter cortical (relating to the outer layer of the cerebrum, the latter which is the principal and most anterior part of the brain in vertebrates, located in the front area of the skull and consisting of two hemispheres, left and right, separated by a fissure, which is responsible for the integration of complex sensory and neural functions and the initiation and coordination of voluntary activity in the body) thickness, sulcal (a shallow depression or groove in the cerebral cortex) depth, and grey matter (a major component of the central nervous system) volume in developing brains (M.P. Paulus, L.M. Squeglia, K. Bagot, J. Jacobus, R. Kuplicki, F.J. Breslin, J. Bodurka, A.S. Morris, W.K. Thompson, H. Bartsch and S.F. Tapert's "Screen media activity and brain structure in youth: Evidence for diverse structural correlation networks from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study"). A higher screen time has also been associated with a lower micro-structural integrity of the white matter (refers to certain areas of the central nervous system which affect learning and brain functions, modulate the distribution of action potentials, act as a relay and coordinates communication between different brain regions) in the brain regions essential for language and executive functioning, suggesting a negative impact on the foundational skills for learning and development (J.S. Hutton, J. Dudley, T. Horowitz-Kraus, T. DeWitt and S.K. Holland's "Associations between screen-based media use and the brain white matter integrity in pre-school-aged children"). Dangerous TikTok challenges have led to unintentional injuries and fatalities. The difficulty in distinguishing between accidental injuries and suicide attempts among young participants may complicate clinical intervention (L.H. Jaycox, E.R. Murphy, J.L. Zehr, J.L. Pearson and S. Avenevoli's "Social media and suicide risk in youth"). However, excessive social media use has been linked to higher risks of suicide, self-harm, and psychological distress among adolescents (O. Ataga and V.K. Arnold's "TikTok challenges - Unintentional injuries versus suicide attempts"). Cyberbullying, disrupted sleep patterns, and addictive behaviour are key contributors to these issues (Abderrahman M. Khalaf, A.A. Alubied, Ahmed M. Khalaf and A.A. Rifaey's "The impact of social media on the mental health of adolescents and young adults: A systematic review"). Body image concerns and eating disorders are also prominent among adolescents, leading to disordered eating behaviour (an Indian study, and S.E. Mazzeo, M. Weinstock, T.N. Vashro, T. Henning and K. Derrigo's "Mitigating harms of social media for the adolescent body image and eating disorders: A review"). This is unsurprising as social media is rampant with influencers and brand content strategists who advocate for unrealistic beauty standards to promote cosmetic products and quick-fix fitness and diet programs.

Privacy concerns and exposure to sexual predators are another pressing concern. In Sri Lanka, 46.3% of online users aged 10-16 communicated with strangers, and 27.9% met online strangers in person (per the UNICEF). The promotion of risky sexual behaviours further emphasises the need for regulation (M. Gonçalves's "The influence of social media on adolescent sexual behaviour: A retrospective analysis"). The bidirectional relationship between viewing sexual content on social media and adolescent sexual behaviour illustrates the potential for harm when adolescents are allowed to view content online without adult supervision (A. Bleakley, M. Hennessy, M. Fishbein and A. Jordan's "It works both ways: The relationship between exposure to sexual content in the media and adolescent sexual behaviour"). Additionally, excessive social media use may foster misinformation, limit face-to-face interactions and impair the development of critical social skills.

Internet addiction

In Sri Lanka, the prevalence of the internet addiction disorder in adolescents between the age of 15-19 is 17.2%, with the excessive use of social media and high internet usage for non-academic purposes identified as significant risk factors for the disorder (C. Ratnayake and C. Hewapathirana's "Internet addiction disorder and its associated factors among 15-19-year adolescents in the Colombo District").

Positive influences

Despite the risks, there are compelling arguments against a blanket ban on social media for individuals under 16. The neurobiological evidence is not fully understood, with complex interactions that have not yet been thoroughly investigated. Frequent social media use may shape how the brain processes social rewards and expectations, making habitual users more sensitive to social feedback. This trait confers both social benefits and detrimental effects (M.T. Maza, K.A. Fox, S-J. Kwon, J.E. Flannery, K.A. Lindquist, M.J. Prinstein and E.H. Telzer's "Association of habitual checking behaviours on social media with longitudinal functional brain development").

Social media use may have other benefits, particularly for marginalised groups like lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ), intersex, asexual plus (+) adolescents, who often find support through access to online communities. Social media may be both a refuge and a source of connection for these individuals despite simultaneously exposing them to cyberbullying (C.B. Fisher, X. Tao and M. Ford's "Social media: A double-edged sword for LGBTQ+ youth"). Social media also serves as a gateway for creative expression, global socialisation, and access to diverse perspectives. Positive impacts on education and communication have been identified in Sri Lanka (T. Weerasinghe and D. Samarasinghe's "Social media use by adolescent students of Sri Lanka: Impact on learning and behaviour"), and banning these platforms could therefore limit adolescents’ exposure to academic resources, cultural exchange, global news and vital information on sexual and reproductive health.

The SL context

Social media platforms have addressed areas such as education, health, and disaster management, with applications in electronic-learning, autism-related interventions, and public health campaigns (I. Hewapathirana's "A review of current trends and applications of social media research in Sri Lanka", and M. Chandradasa, L.C. Rathnayake, M. Rowel and L. Fernando's "The early phase child and adolescent psychiatry response after mass trauma: Lessons learned from the Easter Sunday attack in Sri Lanka"). While well-known applications such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok are predominantly used for virtual interaction and can be clearly labelled as “social media”, other platforms for e-learning may have interactive features, and the distinctions may be less clear. Policymakers will have to scrupulously examine each application and site to determine which platforms ought to fall under the ban if one were to be implemented in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, even if a ban was implemented, minors may still access these platforms using a virtual private network or by creating fake accounts, making regulating such a policy more challenging.

Global measures

Many countries are taking steps to address the impact of social media on young people by implementing age restrictions and usage regulations instead of enforcing a strict ban. For instance, the United States (US) and European Union have introduced laws requiring parental consent for children under 13 to use social platforms. China restricts users under 18 to 60 minutes of social media daily, and South Korea requires identification verification for access. These bodies of legislation reflect growing global concerns about the safety and well-being of children and adolescents on the internet, particularly considering the risks posed by social media, without completely cutting off access to social media.

Meanwhile, French lawmakers voted to ban social media use by under-15s with the legislation also banning mobile phones in high schools as a way to protect children from excessive screen time. The lower National Assembly adopted the text by a vote of 130 to 21. It will now go to the Senate, France’s upper house, ahead of becoming the law. As social media has grown, so has concern that too much screen time is harming child development and contributing to mental health problems. France’s public health watchdog, the Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety said that social media such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram had several detrimental effects on adolescents, particularly girls. The risks listed include cyberbullying and the exposure to violent content. The Legislation stipulates that “access to an online social networking service provided by an online platform is prohibited for minors under the age of 15”. The draft Bill excludes online encyclopedias and educational platforms. An effective age verification system would have to come into force for the ban to become a reality. The hard-left France Unbowed’s Arnaud Saint-Martin criticised the ban as “a form of digital paternalism” and an “overly simplistic” response to the negative impacts of technology. Nine child protection associations urged the lawmakers to “hold platforms accountable”, not “ban” children from social media. In 2018, France banned children from using mobile phones in colleges, the schools attended between the ages of 11 and 15. 

Also, Conservative peer John Alfred Stoddard Nash brought an Amendment to the Children’s Well-being and Schools Bill which would introduce an outright ban on children using social media, and raise the age limit for social media to 16. Members of the United Kingdom’s (UK) House of Lords are preparing to vote on the said Amendment. The Amendment has the support of some Labour peers, and if it passes in the Lords, it will then be debated in the Commons, where 61 Labour Parliamentarians recently wrote a letter to the Prime Minister urging him to bring in a ban. The UK Government has meanwhile announced a consultation on whether to ban under-16s from social media. Further, a UK team led by the Cambridge University has meanwhile commenced a study to examine the effects of restricting social media for children with the said trial involving 4,000 children (across 30 secondary schools, focusing on students in Years Eight, Nine and 10) to explore the impact on mental health, sleep and the time spent with friends and family. The participants’ levels of anxiety and depression are the key expected outcomes to be measured. 

In the US, the American Academy of Paediatrics has emphasised that screen time limits for children are no longer enough. According to them, common advice like “limiting individual youth access to screens”, or asking parents to keep tabs on their children’s every digital movement is “not only impossible, but for adolescents in particular, potentially invasive”. Instead, they recommend regulations that limit “overt, sexualised, commercialised, or harmful content to youth”, including algorithms that send teens and children down rabbit holes with damaging themes. They note that bans are “very unfortunate” because while social media platforms are indeed designed in a harmful way, bans do nothing to make those platforms safer. Social media is the first and often only place that young people seek out for help and support, and cutting that off immediately with no warning has really adverse consequences. It is healthier, they argue, for teens to have some level of autonomy in their digital lives. The said policy statement does include advice for parents and other caregivers, including to track digital habits for the entire family and set parental controls. It is hard to monitor screens 24/seven, but, “checking in intermittently to see what kids are doing” is recommended. Google parental control systems monitor children's phones so that they have to ask before they can download any apps, and it flags “any content that could be considered problematic in any of the communications”. The system also sets limits on screen time.

The way forward

While a social media ban could address significant public health and safety concerns, it also risks driving a vulnerable cohort of children and adolescents into unsafe and unregulated spaces. Sri Lankan policymakers must weigh these factors carefully. Rather than imposing a blanket ban, alternative approaches such as stricter content moderation, digital literacy programs and robust parental controls may be considered. Leveraging the positive aspects of social media while mitigating its risks would allow Sri Lanka to protect its young demographic without stifling their opportunities for growth, expression, and learning.

• With inputs from The Guardian