Inside the Growing Push to Ban Social Media for Kids

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, News

4 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Australia is on the cusp of banning social media for children, with countries around the world expected to follow suit. Teenagers and tech companies alike have argued that the ban hurts free speech, but politicians and parents are concerned about the mental-health impacts on young people as more studies show that social media can worsen feelings of anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. WSJ tech reporters Sam Schechner and Georgia Wells discuss the pros and cons of a social-media ban and what it could mean for companies’ bottom line. Caitlin McCabe hosts. Further Reading Australia Adds YouTube to Social-Media Ban for Young Teens Families Battle Tech Giants as Australia Pushes for an Under-16 Social-Media Ban Australia Passes Landmark Social-Media Ban for Under-16s Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:32.6	Hey, What's News listeners. It's Sunday December 7th. I'm Caitlin McCabe for the Wall Street Journal,
0:38.3	and this is What's News Sunday, the show where we tackled the big questions about the biggest
0:43.1	stories in the news by reaching out to our colleagues across the newsroom to help explain what's
0:48.4	happening in our world. On the show this week, we're talking about teens and social media,
0:53.6	which in some parts of the world is facing a new frontier.
0:57.8	This week, Australia will officially ban children under the age of 16 from using a range of social media platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, as part of a government effort to protect Australian's mental health and well-being.
1:13.6	We know that social media can be a weapon for bullies, a platform for peer pressure,
1:21.6	a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers, and worst of all, a tool for online predators.
1:31.2	And because it is young Australians who are most engaged with this technology,
1:35.6	it is young Australians who are most at risk.
1:37.9	That's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaking a little over a year ago,
1:42.6	around the time that Australia became the first country
1:45.4	to pass such a ban. In the months since, U.S. states and nations around the world,
1:51.8	from Denmark to Malaysia, have also made moves to tighten social media controls for teens.
1:58.3	When you talk to the social media platforms today, they would state that they already have
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