Can social media bans protect young people’s mental health? Early research suggests that bans aren’t the answer

Countries are banning social media in hopes of helping with the youth mental health crisis. Anna Barclay/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The year 2026 has been an expensive one for social media platforms.

Since March, YouTube and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, have settled or paid out in multiple lawsuits to the tune of more than US$17 billion for allegedly acting negligently, deliberately designing their platforms to hook kids and misleading the public about safety and privacy. If these suits are any indication of how states and the public are starting to view social media platforms, more may follow.