We don’t know how social media bans will affect youth but we’re doing it anyway!

Around the world, governments are banning youth from social media. Proponents of bans claim that banning or restricting social media access is necessary to curb the youth mental health crisis and support youth well-being. Our review of experimental evidence from social media restriction studies shows that, to date, youth participants who would be subject to these bans have been excluded from research. We argue that bans are unlikely to eliminate or change social media use among youth in positive ways and caution against the unintended consequences of these policies. Finally, we provide recommendations for how to evaluate whether these bans achieve their stated aims of improving youth outcomes. Youth social media bans may represent an opportunity for scientific advancement and positive impact. However, rigorous evaluation efforts will be needed to guide evidence-based policymaking and understand the impacts, if any, of social media bans on youth.