Photo: Manuel Padilla via www.imago-ima/imago images/Addictive Stock
Photo: Manuel Padilla via www.imago-ima/imago images/Addictive Stock

Ideas

A Social-Media Ban Really Could Do a Lot of Good

Australia’s experiment is the first of its kind, but the evidence from alcohol, drug, and other bans is promising.

First published in The Atlantic on February 2, 2026.

by Keith Humphreys and Jonathan Caulkins, The Atlantic
February 5, 2026 | reading time: 6 Min.

Australia recently decided to try something ambitious. Starting late last year, all children under 16 have been banned from having accounts on social-media sites such as TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Because no country has attempted such a ban before, knowing the effects in advance is impossible—and they may be hard to assess even years after implementation.

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