Banning social media for under-16s is not just a matter of policy, but spiritual formation

Every time a young person tells me: “You need to get on TikTok,” I feel two reactions at once.

Firstly, they’re not wrong. If you want to reach people, you have to be where they are. But I also feel my stomach tighten a little, because the same platforms where young people are finding encouragement, community - and even Christian content - are also feeding them comparison, pseudo-wisdom and identity pressure at a scale no previous generation has had to navigate.

That is why the under-16 social media ban debate matters. And it is also why a ban, on its own, will never be enough. This is not only a tech or policy conversation. It is a formation conversation. Because a ban can block an app, but it cannot build a child.

Debating harm

Since Australia became the first country to ban under-16s from social media in December 2025, several other countries have announced plans to follow suit. Here in the UK, the debate has gained momentum in recent months, with the House of Lords voting for a ban last month and Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, has today repeated her call to ban social media for under 16s. She’s previously argued that delaying would be a dereliction of duty that harms children’s mental health.  

This is not a fringe panic. Parents, schools and policymakers are trying to respond to a real problem. If anyone still thinks concerns about online harm are exaggerated, the case of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who died by suicide in 2017, remains a devastating warning. Her death exposed the truth that online content is not just ‘content’ when it reaches a child repeatedly, intimately and at scale.

Scripture has always understood that human beings are shaped by what they love, behold and rehearse

When we talk about social media harm, we often focus on bullying, grooming, violence, sexualised content, predatory adults. Those risks are real and serious. But many families are also dealing with slower, quieter forms of harm: attention capture, comparison loops, performative identity and the pressure to brand yourself before you even know yourself. A teenager who goes upstairs in a decent mood and comes down withdrawn, irritable or suddenly convinced that everyone else is prettier, happier, further ahead. A teacher who starts the school day managing fallout from a screenshot that circulated overnight. A youth leader who spends half their time settling tensions that began online.

The algorithms that govern social media do not simply entertain but reward reaction. They dictates what gets noticed, what gets ignored, what is desirable, and what is embarrassing. Over time, they can discipline desire without anyone ever calling it that.

Yet despite this, not everything young people find online is harmful. Spiritually curious young people are searching for language, guidance and community in the places they already inhabit. Sometimes they say: “Why aren’t more Christians creating content here?” 

Which means this conversation cannot only be about what we are stopping. It also has to be about what we are offering.

Offering growth

I understand why many people support an under-16 ban. There is something deeply unsettling about handing childhood over to an economy built on engagement, insecurity and endless scrolling. But even if a ban came in tomorrow, the deeper work would still remain.

Children need help to learn what truth sounds like in a noisy world. They need adults who can model boundaries, rest and attention. They need communities where they are known beyond performance. They need places where they can ask real questions — about anxiety, identity, purpose, loneliness, faith — without being met with panic or platitudes.

This is where the Church has a real opportunity - not because we are perfect, but because Christian community, at its best, can offer what the algorithm cannot: embodied presence, intergenerational friendship, truth and love.

The algorithm asks: What version of you performs best? The gospel asks: Who are you becoming?

This conversation cannot only be about what we are stopping. It also has to be about what we are offering

Scripture has always understood that human beings are shaped by what they love, behold and rehearse. “Guard your heart,” says Proverbs 4:23 — not as a sentimental slogan, but as a serious warning about formation. In a digital age, that work is not only private. It is shared. Families, churches and communities all have a part to play.

So yes, let’s have the policy debate. Children deserve serious protection. Platforms should be held accountable. Regulation and enforcement matters.

But if this conversation ends at age checks and headlines, we will have done only half the work. The bigger question is: If we want young people to be less formed by the algorithm, who — and what — will do the forming instead?

Because a ban can create space. It may even reduce harm. But it cannot disciple attention. It cannot create belonging. That work still belongs to people — to families, to communities, and to the Church.