WASHINGTON (TNND) — Democratic Project 2029 calls for a social media ban for children under the age of 16.
The proposal is titled “Kids over Clicks” and it discusses the mental health issues from social media that have impacted minors the most.
“In 2013, more than half of American high-school girls — 53 percent, up by more than a third from a decade earlier — reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, which the CDC has linked to the saturation of smartphones and social media use in adolescent life,” the proposal reads.
This comes after the United Kingdom proposed a social media ban for minors under 16.
“Thousands of parents say their children are addicted to social media,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in his announcement of the proposed ban. “It can leave them trapped in a cycle of endless scrolling that displaces play, sleep, and time with the family. It can harm their mental health. And frankly, parents need our support on this.”
The Australian government recently passed a law that mandates children have to be at least 16 to get a social media account.
The “Kids over Clicks” proposal states that while technology has benefited the American people, it has also caused harm to minors through cyberbullying and social media addiction.
“Lawmakers should ban social media platforms from opening accounts for children up to age 16. By keeping the youngest users off these platforms entirely, this approach buys time for adolescent brains to develop the cognitive defenses needed to navigate platforms built around addictive design,” the proposal states.
