Teen social media bans could backfire, experts caution

Proposed bans connected κοινωνικά media platforms similar TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat for children under 15 could propulsion young users toward acold much dangerous, unregulated alternatives, experts caution.

Platforms similar Gab, Parler, and 4chan – which run with virtually nary contented moderation – champion unrestricted escaped speech and could easy sorb displaced young users. Unlike mainstream platforms, these sites autumn extracurricular the EU’s Digital Services Act, which lone covers platforms exceeding 45 cardinal monthly users.

“If something becomes trendy, young radical will beryllium the archetypal to find it,” said Yannis Theocharis, prof of Digital Governance astatine the Technical University of Munich. He warns that these spaces breed unsafe “echo chambers,” where extremist and far-right views spell unchallenged.

Parler was notably used to coordinate the 2021 US Capitol attack. Theocharis concludes: “The much countries prohibition κοινωνικά media for under-15s, the much others will exploit that to physique caller platforms serving precisely that purpose.”