Psychologist Candice Odgers warns teen social media bans backfire

Developmental psychologist Candice Odgers argues that banning teenagers from social media is likely to exacerbate rather than resolve youth mental health crises. Odgers, who has studied adolescent development for 25 years, contends current policy debates obscure critical factors including post-pandemic trauma and adult caregiver well-being. She identifies adult men as the primary perpetrators of online harms such as sextortion and misinformation, suggesting that restricting teen access fails to address the actual sources of danger. While acknowledging her rhetorical suggestion to remove adult men from the internet is not viable policy, Odgers uses it to highlight the misalignment between proposed bans and evidence-based harm reduction. Her position challenges the prevailing legislative consensus that age verification and platform restrictions are the most effective tools for protecting minors online.