Worn down by worry, parents look longingly at Australia’s social media ban

Boys play outside a housing development in Odense, Denmark, where the government has plans to block children under 15 from using social media as soon as next year, Sept. 11, 2023. After Australia barred children under 16 from using social media, many parents have been asking whether similarly tough action is needed in their own countries. — Charlotte de la Fuente/The New York Times

LONDON: A frustrated father in Spain, whose teenage daughter regularly sidesteps parental controls that block social media, wants the government to ban apps like TikTok and Instagram for children.

In France, a mother of three worries about social media’s effect on young people and will not give her children smartphones until they are 15. But she is skeptical that a government prohibition is the answer.