Age-ban on social media can’t solve mental distress on its own

In this article Karen Orsborn, Chief Executive, outlines what needs to be done to promote online safety for rangatahi and young people. 

Online spaces are now integrated into many young people’s lives, and Aotearoa, NZ has some of the highest rates of youth engagement in online spaces media in the world. There is no turning back the clock.

Yet the downsides of the online world for young people are well known and how to address these is now playing out on the international stage. With France recently following in Australia's footsteps by introducing an age-based ban on social media, this idea is quickly being implemented in many countries. A similar ban is now being considered here in Aotearoa New Zealand - without a lot of evidence of its effectiveness to back this action. So what can be done to make online life safer?

It's inescapable that young people live in an online and digital age, where connection and community look a lot different than for previous generations. 

Over the past three years, Te Hiringa Mahara – Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission has worked with young people to understand what drives mental health and wellbeing, including their experiences of online environments.

What we know is that online safety is a driver of wellbeing for young people. In addition, young people are digital experts who are highly attuned to both the benefits and the harms that come with online spaces and specifically with social media use.

Young people have told Te Hiringa Mahara that they want leaders to take meaningful action to improve online safety for all.

Thoughtful consideration is needed when looking to develop options here in NZ by looking at Australia’s approach, so that any tools adopted here work, can be implemented, are grounded in evidence, and prioritise the real-world needs and experience of young people.

For solutions to work, balancing the benefits of being online while minimising the harms experienced by young people is key. Emerging research shows mental health benefits of social media use for young people through connection with their friends, sending messages and sharing content, and accessing interest-based communities and support groups.

Having access to safe online spaces is linked to greater wellbeing, reduced depression, decreased loneliness, and increased positive emotions. This is especially the case for young people experiencing harm and distress during a crisis who need to access support.

On the other side there are also well documented harms for young people and online spaces. For example exposure to harmful content is a risk factor for young people’s mental distress. Exposure to content related to self-harm has been linked to depression and anxiety. Exposure to disordered eating content has been associated to poor self-esteem and body image concerns. Cyberbullying can be a prevalent form of harassment that is widely reported.

This is where action must take place, to regulate these spaces and harmful content. Action on digital literacy in school curriculums will also provide young people with the tools they need to safely navigate online spaces and social media.

We can’t expect a ban on social media to counter rising psychological distress among young people without addressing wider social determinants of mental health. Factors such as exposure to adverse events and family harm, structural discrimination and racism, abuse, social isolation, and economic hardship are significant contributors to mental health issues that are made worse by unregulated and unsafe online spaces.

Attributing the anxiety and distress felt by younger generations primarily to social media use lacks a wider view, critical lens that we need to identify and implement effective solutions.

Te Hiringa Mahara is calling for a multi-pronged, harm reduction approach to addressing online harms. We are concerned that blanket age-based bans are too simplistic, impractical, easy to get around, hard to enforce, and can push young people to more dangerous corners of the internet. It also does not address the factors that are driving increasing distress.

Instead, real solutions require that we go upstream to where the problem starts and implement changes at the source. Just as we regulate pollution put into our physical environments to ensure that young people can be free to learn and explore, shouldn’t the same attention be given to our online environments?

Young people want to see the government enact stronger regulations for social media companies so that our younger generations grow up with access to online spaces that are age appropriate and intentionally designed to support better mental health and wellbeing.

Regulations must include enhanced management and monitoring of algorithms, proactive prevention and blocking of harmful content, and ensuring that content is age appropriate.

Te Hiringa Mahara is also calling for widely accessible education opportunities across Aotearoa covering digital literacy and critical thinking for rangatahi and young people, with resources for parents, whānau, and guardians to help normalise online safety conversations and promote support options.

Above all, we call on the government to include young people in decision-making that directly impacts them and their ability to build connection, belonging, and mental health. As digital experts, young people are best placed to articulate the challenges they face online and the changes that will help to keep them safe.

This is what they want from their families, from decision makers and from government. Their knowledge and ideas must be central to any legislative decisions our government makes about our online environment, as we work to foster healthy and sustainable digital environments for our rangatahi and young people.

(First published on 5 March 2026)

Read our submission to the Education and Workforce Select Committee Inquiry into the harm young New Zealanders encounter online, and the roles that Government, business, and society should play in addressing those harms (July 2025) (PDF 1.7MB)