Meant to Protect Children Online, Social Media Bans May Be Doing the Opposite

Governments across several countries are tightening restrictions on minors’ access to social media over concerns about mental health, exploitation and online safety. But child rights groups, cybersecurity experts and civil liberties advocates warn the bans could unintentionally push teenagers toward less-regulated corners of the internet with weaker safeguards and minimal oversight.

Australia is the first country to implement a new law banning social media for kids under 16, coming into effect on 10th December 2025, with the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024. The law will cover platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, X, Reddit, Twitch, Kick and Threads.

For systemic failure to prevent underage users from accessing services, companies can be fined up to A$50 million. Those in favor of the restrictions say that they are vital in ensuring that children are not exposed to harmful material, cyberbullying and addictive features of platforms. But critics argue that blanket bans can have a negative effect, pushing minors into unknown apps, VPNs and platforms with weak or no content control. Teens are seeking alternative platforms and VPNs.

Teens Turn to Alternative Platforms and VPNs

Australia’s ban during the first weeks revealed a trend which experts had expected. Download counts on platforms such as Lemon8, Yope and Coverstar reportedly increased as teenagers turned to alternative services to those that were restricted.

Meanwhile, Google Trends data showed that use of virtual private networks, or VPNs, was trending upwards in Australia ahead of the law coming into effect.

The eSafety Commissioner for Australia has noted that the list of banned platforms may increase as platforms are created. Critics say the approach is a “whack-a-mole” game for regulators, who could fall behind with new platforms and evasion methods that are coming on the scene.

Many teens were already thinking of ways to circumvent the restrictions, said Tom Finnigan, a cybersecurity consultant and co-founder of Murfin Group.

“My son cited VPNs as the workaround that he and his friends would use if they got banned,” Finnigan said to Wired Parents. “I mentioned it here that there are data issues and data privacy issues, but access was the biggest concern. The restrictions could inadvertently promote unsafe Internet use, especially by younger users who use free VPNs or unregulated platforms,” Finnigan added.

UNICEF Warns of Unintended Consequences

The debate to ban social media is not limited to Australia. Governments in December 2025 responded to valid concerns about bullying, exploitation and harmful content on the internet, but wide-reaching restrictions on access bring their own risks and can have a counterproductive effect, UNICEF said in a statement.

Social media is a “lifeline” for many isolated or marginalized children, offering them access to learning, connection, play, and self-expression, the organization said. UNICEF has said that age should be factored into a wider child safety policy, not be the only measure for platform accountability.

However, age restrictions should not be the only measure to keep children safe, it noted, but should be part of a wider framework that upholds their rights to privacy and participation, and prevents children from entering unregulated and less safe environments. At the same time, a UNICEF official expressed concern about incentives for blanket bans.

“If they shouldn’t be there, then why should companies spend time and money making their services safer or more educational for them?” the official said in an official statement, saying that the measures could hamper technology companies’ incentives for increasing child safety and digital literacy.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, citing UNICEF and other rights groups, noted that there were a number of possible dangers associated with a ban on social media networks. The ban may leave certain communities, such as LGBTQ+ teens and children in remote areas who may connect and support each other online, isolated, the organization said.

The group also said that age-verification systems could lead to wider gathering of biometric information or government-issued identification, which would be a privacy concern for all age groups of users. It also warned that children might be drawn to less moderated internet environments with lower levels of control and potentially at higher risk of exploitation.

U.S. Lawmakers Push Similar Restrictions

Legislation dubbed the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA) is progressing in the United States that would prohibit children under 13 from using social media and limit personalized recommendation algorithms for social media users under 18.

The proposal has been attacked as unconstitutional by civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, who believe the bill would be an infringement on the rights of minors to access and share information online.

Brookings Institution research has also highlighted concerns over whether social media bans actually lead to a decrease in screen time and activity. A study has revealed that blocking access to some sites doesn’t necessarily mean children spend more time offline, but more likely shift to other digital activities, such as video games, or less visible online groups.

Global Momentum Builds Behind Age-Based Bans

Despite the criticism, political momentum behind age-based social media restrictions continues to grow globally.

Children under 15 will not be allowed to have social media accounts in France from the end of September 2026. From October 2026, children under the age of 15 will no longer be able to have social media profiles in France.

The minister of Paris wants the whole of Europe to regulate social networks, arguing that their use among young people is fueling rising violence.

Malaysia also announced plans to implement a similar age limit on social media in 2026. In most countries, there seems to be good support for tighter controls. In August 2025, Ipsos polled 30 countries and discovered that approximately 70% of adults agreed that a complete ban on social media for children and young teenagers should be enforced.

As governments move toward age-based restrictions, the debate is increasingly shifting from whether children should be protected online to how regulators can do so without pushing them toward less visible and potentially more dangerous digital spaces.