{"id":851,"date":"2026-07-01T12:01:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T10:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialmediaban.lisboncouncil.net\/blog\/?p=851"},"modified":"2026-07-01T12:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T10:01:41","slug":"the-web-young-people-want-why-restricting-access-is-not-the-answer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/socialmediaban.lisboncouncil.net\/blog\/the-web-young-people-want-why-restricting-access-is-not-the-answer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Web Young People Want: Why Restricting Access Is Not the Answer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As European policymakers intensify efforts to improve children’s online safety, proposals to restrict or ban young people’s access to social media have gained traction. The concerns driving these discussions are understandable: from cyberbullying and misinformation to addictive platform design. The current digital environment presents real risks that deserve serious attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet if we approach the internet solely through the lens of threats, we risk overlooking an equally important reality: for millions of young people, online spaces are not merely platforms for entertainment. They are spaces for learning, participation, community building, and civic engagement. This perspective was central to a recent high-level discussion on children’s rights and online safety organised by the Lisbon Council<\/a>, where we, youth representatives, contributed to the debate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many in our generation, digital platforms were the first place we encountered volunteering opportunities, youth initiatives, educational content and civic participation. The Internet provides opportunities to engage in our communities, participate in public discussions, and develop skills that continue to shape our personal and professional lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youth organisations across Europe increasingly rely on digital platforms to reach young people, recruit volunteers, and promote participation in democratic life. Many successful campaigns, grassroots initiatives, and community projects began with a simple social media post. To truly understand why these spaces are irreplaceable, we must recognise that social media has become the core social infrastructure of our daily lives. As highlighted by the data pooled in the Lisbon Council\u2019s Evidence Hub on Social Media Ban for Kids, over 95% of young Europeans have been using social media every single day in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For us, there is no hard line between “offline” and “online” – they are simply two sides of the same interconnected reality. These platforms mitigate geographic isolation, allowing us to maintain cross-border relationships, sustain transnational networks built during European programmes and discover entirely new, lifelong communities that span across different countries. They act as a fundamental bridge that keeps us connected and fosters international solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Furthermore, the public debate often operates on the assumption that digital spaces are inherently destructive to mental health, yet empirical data suggests a much more nuanced reality. There is no proof of uniform, generation-wide harm. A study that tracked teenagers in real time found their responses varied sharply from person to person: most felt no better or worse after using social media, some felt better, and only a small minority felt worse. The effect is not uniform \u2014 it depends on the person, and on what they are doing there. (Source: Beyens, I., Pouwels, J. L., van Driel, I. I., Keijsers, L., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2020). “The effect of social media use on well-being differs from adolescent to adolescent.” <\/strong>Scientific Reports<\/em><\/strong>, 10, 10763. <\/strong>DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41598-020-67727-7<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of a monolithic crisis, we see a complex ecosystem where the impact depends heavily on user experience, platform architecture, and individual resilience. By focusing purely on restrictive measures, policy risks solving the wrong problem while cutting off the vast majority from their vital digital support networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, we do not view this digital ecosystem through rose-coloured glasses. The internet has changed significantly since our childhood, the open web we grew up with has been replaced by a space that is heavily financialised and monetised. Today\u2019s digital landscape is entirely driven by an attention economy where platforms frequently prioritise raw engagement and time-on-app over user wellbeing. Because of this specific architecture, young people are forced to face systemic, engineered risks daily. Features like infinite scroll, algorithmic escalation, exposure to hostile content and coordinated disinformation are not accidental glitches, they are direct products of an architecture optimised for profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the root of the problem lies in this underlying corporate infrastructure, the solution cannot be a quick fix or a blanket ban. Restricting access is a short-sighted approach that only risks isolating vulnerable youth and pushing them into unregulated, less safe corners of the web. It leaves young people completely unprepared to face the realities of the digital world, rather than protecting them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It also means we should stop treating “social media” as a single thing. A messaging app used to talk to family and an autoplay feed engineered to keep us scrolling at 2am are not the same, and should not be governed as if they were. Research by the 5Rights Foundation has shown how specific design features: infinite scroll, autoplay and algorithmic recommendations are deliberately engineered to capture children’s attention, and that the right response is to focus on these mechanisms rather than on young people’s access to services. That is the level to act at: judge each feature on its own merits, remove the genuinely harmful ones and make the risky ones safer, rather than restricting access to everything at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge is not whether young people should be online. The challenge is how to make online environments safer and more empowering. We believe three priorities stand out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, digital literacy<\/strong>. We need practical skills to understand algorithms, protect our privacy, identify manipulation or deepfakes, and learn how to safely navigate an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven information environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, platforms must be safe by design<\/strong>. Greater transparency, stronger protections against harmful content, effective reporting mechanisms, and user control over recommendation systems should become standard expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, we need strong youth organisations, accessible community spaces<\/strong>, and well-supported youth work, as it helps build the resilience and critical thinking skills that allow us to stay safe online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we say platforms should be “safe by design,” it can sound abstract, so let us be concrete about what it could mean. The recommender systems that decide what we see are currently built to maximise one thing: time on the app. But that is a choice, not a law of nature, and the same technology can be pointed at a different goal. We know this is possible because it is already being done: the very same company that runs an engagement-optimised video app in Europe runs a version for children elsewhere whose algorithm is tuned toward educational, age-appropriate content instead. The brilliant, curious content already exists in every language, the algorithm simply decides whether or not to show it to us. The most powerful safeguard, then, is not blocking young people from platforms, but requiring that the moment a platform knows it is serving a child, its systems work in that child’s interest. An experience that grows with us as we develop protects us far better than a wall built around a birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting children online is a legitimate and necessary objective. But protection should not come at the expense of participation. Policies that focus primarily on restricting access risk push young people into less regulated spaces while leaving them less prepared to navigate the digital world. The goal should not be to isolate youth but to create a generation equipped to use the internet safely, critically, and confidently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must finally stop legislating out of anxiety and start building a safer digital future with<\/em> young people, rather than just talking about<\/em> them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the work of the Special Panel on Child Safety Online, we are very much looking forward to seeing the outcomes and working together toward an evidence-based digital future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Martina Tothova<\/strong> is 23 years old, living in Bratislava. She is a member of the European Commission President\u2019s Youth Advisory Board, a Foreign Committee Member of the Slovak National Youth Council and part of the Financial Control Commission of the European Youth Forum. She studies economics, works in cybersecurity, and is passionate about geopolitics, technology, and working with her peers so that policies actually work for young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriele Battimelli<\/strong> is an 18-year-old from Italy who is passionate about making technology work for people. He pursues this mission both through his technical work as a programmer and his active advocacy: he collaborates with the Italian Safer Internet Centre \u2018Generazioni Connesse\u2019 and serves across Europe as a Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Youth Ambassador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tobi\u00e1\u0161 Bruno Galia<\/strong> is 21 years old, living in Brno, studying European Studies and International Relations at the Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University. He is a member of the Czech Council of Children and Youth, as well as a member of President von der Leyen\u2019s Youth Advisory Board. Furthermore, he is a member of the Czech Government Committee for Digital Education, and is responsible for European affairs at the NGO YPALA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As European policymakers intensify efforts to improve children’s online safety, proposals to restrict or ban young people’s access to social media have gained traction. The concerns driving these discussions are understandable: from cyberbullying and misinformation to addictive platform design. The current digital environment presents real risks that deserve serious attention. 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