US psychologist: 4 reasons why social media should be banned for children

A leading expert has congratulated Australia for leading the way in slaying social media "monsters". Video by South Australia Government.

Transcript

00:00We rely on government to set minimum ages in four kinds of situations.

00:04Addictive activities. We don't let companies push addictive activities on children.

00:09Social media is addictive in many ways, both biologically and especially socially.

00:14Graphic sexuality. We don't let children buy hardcore pornography,

00:17but if they're on social media, they're going to see it. They're going to see all kinds of

00:22very disturbing things. Graphic violence. We try to protect children from the most horrible

00:27violence. But if you're on social media, and especially TikTok, you're going to be getting,

00:33boys in particular, end up getting lots of videos of people being run over by cars,

00:37falling out of buildings, getting punched in the face, getting shot, getting stabbed.

00:41Horrible, horrible things are just routine. The fourth reason why we require age minimums is when

00:48an activity has some physical danger. And the number of kids who have died because of viral

00:53TikTok challenges alone.