What if Instagram, TikTok and other social platforms had an actual age limit?
The European Union is pushing new rules aimed at restricting children’s access to social media, with a proposed minimum age of 13 and additional restrictions for teenagers as they get older.
The proposal comes amid growing concerns about addictive platform design, online safety and the potential impact of social media on young people’s mental health.
But the idea is already raising a much bigger question: Who decides when someone is actually old enough for social media?
And how would platforms even enforce it?
The debate is especially interesting for Gen Z because today’s teenagers are essentially the first generation to grow up with social media as part of everyday life , while older generations are now deciding what access the next generation should have.
So here’s the real question:
Would you have survived your teenage years without TikTok, Instagram or Snapchat?
