As governments across Europe weigh age bans on social media, researchers at LSE and the University of Oslo asked the people the policies would affect. Their report, Use, Views and Worries on Age Bans on Social Media, draws on EU Kids Online survey responses from 29,169 children aged 9 to 16 across 19 European countries, making it one of the largest evidence bases yet assembled on the question.
The findings complicate the case for prohibition. Nearly half of children, 45 per cent, said age-based restrictions would not make them feel safer online, and a similar share said bans would limit their freedom and rights or remove their responsibility to decide for themselves. The most frequent social media activity reported was communicating with friends, and children from lower socio-economic backgrounds were more likely to use the internet to seek information on mental health and wellbeing.
The research team, including Professor Sonia Livingstone of LSE's Department of Media and Communications, does not minimise risk: up to one in five children reported encountering problematic user-generated content, with conspiracy theories the most common. But they stress exposure is not proof of harm, and that effectively enforced bans would purchase uncertain safety gains at the cost of communication, learning and participation. They recommend age-appropriate protections, safety by design, platform accountability and digital literacy instead.