Blanket social media ban not so simple to enforce

“Off with the screens!”

Of late, that phrase has become somewhat of a byword in my household. My teenage kids know it well — their old man bellows it out at least once or twice a day after the agreed-upon screen-time limit has been reached.

Or my patience limit has.

Like so many other kids their age, my teens are nearly as adept as I am at skimming the internet and finding YouTube videos they want to watch. Or in a quiet moment, they find ways to log into online games they want to play with their friends like Roblox or Fortnight.

To answer the obvious question: Yes, we allow access to the desktop computer at home or our old second-hand phones that light up when they connect to the house Wi-Fi. But there are rules around that use.

No access before school unless you’re checking the weather. And no phones allowed in their school bags, bedrooms or at the school. Period.

And yet even with these rules in place, we still think they spend far too much time glued to a screen in some part of the house. That, too, is something they share with so many other kids their age.

But the fact of the matter is that their father has a cellphone too, and he’s not completely immune to the same nasty screen habits that affect his kids.

Part of the problem is that I use social media on a daily basis for my work, and if I wanted I could be working nearly nonstop. Being an admitted news junkie with a constant flow of news and opinions in the palm of your hand is a difficult combination. At times, it takes real effort to turn the phone off, leave the blasted thing on the desk and do something more constructive.

But I’m hardly the only one. Go into any coffee shop, stand in a grocery store lineup, head down to the kid’s soccer game or just go out for a walk around your neighbourhood, and you will see numerous adults with their eyes glued to their phones.

The problem is pervasive — and it’s hardly just a youth problem.

So when governments start talking about banning kids under 16 years old from social media, I am forced to ask how they’re going to make that happen.

Don’t get me wrong, I am fully in agreement that such a ban is necessary, and I agree with the concerns outlined by Doctors Manitoba this week that were brought to light through a physician survey and a subsequent report.

The eight-page report sought the perspectives of the organization’s member doctors regarding restrictions to social media and artificial intelligence as well as related policy options in response to the Manitoba government’s proposal of an age-based ban last month.

The survey found that 90 per cent of doctors polled support banning social media and AI chatbots for children and youth. In fact, more than two-thirds agreed that the ban should include ages 16 and younger, with some suggesting the ban should include 17-year-olds as well.

Doctors were asked to rank the top risks affecting the health and well-being of children and youth, and the report showed that social media and excessive screen time were ranked above other concerns such as substance use, physical inactivity, inadequate nutrition and sleep and injuries.

“They’re seeing big effects on mental health, like depression and anxiety. They’re seeing changes in social interactions with children, and they’re seeing decrease in physical activity,” said Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Alon Altman.

“There’s growing evidence about these impacts, and many jurisdictions around the world are considering restrictions on social media to protect children’s health and well-being.”

Quite the damning diagnosis.

Following in the footsteps of Australia, which implemented such a social media ban for youth under 16 in December 2025, Canada’s federal government is considering similar legislation. But the results in Australia have been mixed. Even though social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube reportedly deactivated and restricted millions of youth accounts, many teens were able to successfully bypass the restrictions using VPNs or by circumventing age-verification tech.

While Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has already announced plans to move forward with this province’s own social media ban, details about how enforcement would work — or even a start date — have been as fleeting as a teenager’s attention span.

The problem with these kinds of blanket bans is that it’s next to impossible to get the genie back in the bottle. That at least some of the platforms have been trying to work with governments is heartening, but clearly it will take more than an age verification program to stop a determined kid who knows their way around the net.

So if governments push forward with an attempted ban, parents will need to be seen as the crucial first line of defence against the harms of social media — not the companies. Parents are the natural role models, and they will need to be firmly on side for a ban to work, as it will require enforcement in the home, too.

Perhaps the more pressing question will be how to get adults weaned off social media screen time, too.

» Matt Goerzen, editor