Banning children not the answer on online platforms

AUSTRALIAS decision to ban children under 16 from social media, with Denmark eyeing similar measures for under-15s, has reignited a global debate about children, technology and harm.

- BELINDA MATORE

The political appeal is obvious: draw a clear line, claim protection and move on. But from a South African legal and policy perspective, this approach is both insufficient and misdirected. It treats children as the problem, rather than the digital systems that systematically fail them.

Studies across psychology, human-computer interaction and digital governance show that harm to children online is not simply a function of access, but of platform design choices such as algorithmic amplification, persuasive design, endless scrolling, social comparison metrics and targeted advertising optimised for engagement rather than well-being.

These are not neutral technologies. They are engineered environments that shape behaviour in predictable ways, particularly for developing minds. Research published in journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Computers in Human Behaviour demonstrates that design features, not mere screen time, correlate most strongly with anxiety, depression, compulsive use and exposure to harmful content. Removing children from platforms without reforming those design features leaves the underlying risk architecture intact. It also incentivises displacement. Children migrate to less visible, less regulated spaces where safeguards are weaker and where harms are harder to detect.