NATIONAL PULSE – Most would ban children under 16 from social media

After Australia became first country to ban social media for kids, Canadians appear ready to follow suit

---

By ANGUS REID INSTITUTE

March 30, 2026 – Scrutiny of the negative effects of social media on young people has intensified further following a landmark ruling in California labelling Instagram and YouTube as deliberately addictive and harmful to children. Prior to the ruling, Canada had already joined the ranks of countries considering a ban on social media use for those under 16.

According to new data from a wide-ranging study on current social media use by the non-profit Angus Reid Institute, banning those under 16 from platforms would be well received by the vast majority of Canadians. Three-quarters (75%) say they support a full ban on social media use for anyone under the age of 16. Among parents with kids in the household support is also strong, at 70 per cent.

See report on these same questions in the United States here.

Endorsement of restrictions on the use of social media comes as three-in-five (61%) Canadians – and half (52%) of those whose oldest child is 16 or 17 – say they believe teens are not capable of using social media responsibly.

And there is near unanimous concern from Canadians over children’s potential exposure on social media to misinformation (92% concerned), cyberbullying (90%), explicit content (85%), negative mental health impacts (94%) and addiction (94%).

As it stands, parents with kids aged 10 to 15 are more likely than not governing their kids’ social media use. A majority say they put restrictions on which apps their kids use, monitor their activity or place time limits.

Although a ban – which will reportedly be discussed by the Liberal Party at its convention in April – would be welcomed by most parents, more say that the responsibility for regulating social media use should fall to the parents (72%) rather than governments (20%).

More Key Findings:

• When those who want under-16’s banned only from certain apps are asked which social media should be verboten, TikTok (88%), X/Twitter (86%), and Snapchat (84%) are at the top of the list. Only half (48%) would ban kids under 16 from YouTube.

• There is no consensus among Canadians as to what age is the right one for kids to have access to social media. The age of 16 is chosen at the highest rate, by one-third (32%); near equal numbers say 10-12 (13%), 14 (16%), and 15 (13%).

• One-third (32%) say AI companies like OpenAI should be required to report user activity to Canadian authorities if it’s “potentially illegal”. More (45%) say they should only be required to do so if it is illegal. This question has gained particular relevance in Canada after the suspect in the Tumbler Ridge shooting was banned by OpenAI seven months prior to the incident but had not caused Open AI to alert authorities because the account did not meet the company’s threshold for “credible and imminent planning” of serious violence.

Link to the poll here: www.angusreid.org/

Download .PDF with detailed tables, graphs and methodology.