The UK’s social media ban is a gamble in the face of uncertainty

Following the UK government announcing a social media ban for under 16s on 15 June there has been a tide of debate about whether the evidence supports this decision. Depending on whom you ask, the evidence is settled or barely there at all.As with many debates, the answer is probably somewhere in between. Evidence around the impact of social media on population level outcomes such as poor mental health is growing.123 The evidence base on the effectiveness of social media bans for under 16s is still weak, mainly owing to the lack of high quality evaluations of such an intervention in this age group.4 Early evaluation shows that in its first six months Australia’s social media ban has been largely ineffective in getting children off social media.5 The UK and Australian governments stress that this will improve with better enforcement and adequate compliance efforts by companies, but whether that will…