Teens Say Social Media Ban Isn’t Effective as Spain Follows Australia’s Footsteps

The social media ban for users who are under 16 years of age has been going on for two months now.

However, it seems teens do not think it’s working.

Teens Don’t Think Social Media Ban Is Working

Several teens interviewed by ABC News have shared with the outlet that they do not think that the ban has been effective.

In fact, a 14-year-old boy even shared how Snapchat prompted him to do a face scan leading up to the ban. He complied and was granted access even if he wasn’t 16 years old.

“Snapchat thought I was over 16, so my Snapchat account did not get banned and same on my TikTok, but Instagram, I needed to show my driver’s licence because it wasn’t letting me use my face,” he told ABC.

Other teens interviewed by ABC also shared how they got around the social media ban. A 15-year-old girl interviewed said she set her birthday to a year before she was born.

Another 14-year-old boy shared how the ban has led to people not affected by the ban to earn money by circumventing it.

“Now there’s sort of like a market for it of younger people under the age of 16 giving money to their friends or people they know that are older to do ID scans for them or your parents doing it for you,” he said. “So, it’s really easy to get around.”

Spain Follows in Australia’s Footsteps

ABC’s report comes not long after Spain announced that it was going to follow Australia’s example by banning social media access for those who are under the age of 16.

According to a report by BBC, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared that the move aims to protect children “from the digital Wild West.”

It also seems that Spain isn’t the only considering the ban. Other European countries such as Austria, Denmark, France, and Greece are reportedly weighing their options.

Unsurprisingly, one man who is not happy about the potential bans is X owner Elon Musk, who went as far as to call Sánchez a “tyrant” over the proposed ban, according to The Guardian.

“Sánchez is the true fascist totalitarian,” he said in a post on X.