Australia has banned social media accounts for those under the age of 16, citing mental health concerns. Reuters reports:

Australia on Wednesday became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking access in a move welcomed by many parents and child advocates but criticised by major technology companies and free-speech advocates.

Starting at midnight (1300 GMT on Tuesday), 10 of the largest platforms including TikTok, Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab YouTube and Meta's (META.O), opens new tab Instagram and Facebook were ordered to block children or face fines of up to A$49.5 million ($33 million) under the new law, which is being closely watched by regulators worldwide.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it "a proud day" for families and cast the law as proof that policymakers can curb online harms that have outpaced traditional safeguards.
"This will make an enormous difference. It is one of the biggest social and cultural changes that our nation has faced," Albanese told a news conference on Wednesday.
"It's a profound reform which will continue to reverberate around the world."

The Associated Press reports that "Denmark is planning to follow its lead and severely restrict social media access for young people."

In related news, new research from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Oregon Health & Science University has found a significant link between screen time and diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, suggesting that exposing young brains to social media could have major mental health implications. (Surely this effect isn't limited to children?) Via Futurism:

As detailed in a new paper published in the journal Pediatrics Open Science, the researchers followed 8,324 children aged nine to ten years old in the US for four years. The children self-reported how much time they spent on social media, watching TV, or playing video games. Their parents also assessed their ability to pay attention and any signs of hyperactivity.

There was a clear link between social media use and an attention deficit, raising the possibility that the constant sensory assault by online services like TikTok and Snapchat could be robbing kids of the ability to focus. That’s in contrast to TV or video game use, which showed no clear association with symptoms of ADHD.

“Our study suggests that it is specifically social media that affects children’s ability to concentrate,” said coauthor and Karolinska Institutet professor of cognitive neuroscience Torkel Klingberg in a statement.

The researchers found that over the four years, children went from spending an average of 30 minutes a day to 2.5 hours a day on social media. Meanwhile, inattention symptoms also increased.