Researcher challenges social media bans for teens, citing lack of causal evidence

Candice Odgers, a developmental psychologist and associate dean for research at the University of California Irvine, has emerged as a prominent critic of claims that social media is a primary driver of declining teen mental health. In a TED talk posted in April 2026, Odgers argued that the prevailing narrative—exemplified by Jonathan Haidt’s *The Anxious Generation*—overstates social media’s causal role in teen mental health outcomes.

Odgers’ position is grounded in longitudinal research she has led since 2008, tracking thousands of 10-to-14-year-olds through phone data, school records, and sleep metrics. She reports that while depressed girls tend to use social media more, social media use does not predict later depression. Instead, she points to parental overdose deaths—more than doubling between 2011 and 2021—and caregivers’ mental health as stronger predictors of child outcomes.

She also challenges the assumption that banning teens from social platforms will improve their mental health, noting that no study has tested whether such bans yield measurable benefits. Odgers warns that bans could push teens toward less regulated corners of the internet and allow platforms to avoid accountability. Her alternative proposal is to tax social platforms and invest the proceeds in adult-facing services such as school counselors, drop-in centers, and digital mental health services.

Odgers’ critique arrives as multiple Western democracies move toward restricting children’s access to social media. Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, France, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Slovenia have enacted or are preparing measures that typically bar users under 15 or 16 from platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and X. These moves reflect growing concern over child safety, mental health harms, and algorithmic influence, even as Odgers’ research suggests the causal link between social media and teen mental health remains unproven.