Opinion
Why you should stop using social media right now
by Oliver Herren
Children should use social media: Commission speaks out against bans
21.11.2025
Translation: machine translated
Calls for social media bans are also growing louder in Switzerland. However, the Youth Commission, which advises the Federal Council, says that solutions do not lie in bans, but in rules, education and better regulation.
Many schools are banning smartphones, and more and more countries are banning Tiktok, Instagram and YouTube for children by law or defining strict age limits. France, Denmark and Greece, for example, only want to allow use from the age of 15. There should also be strict controls to ensure that the age limits are adhered to.
There are also discussions in Switzerland. Teachers here are campaigning for social media bans because they realise that too much screen time hurts children and they learn less well. And in many cases, schools are actually banning mobile phones as a result, with the canton of Aargau even enforcing this across all primary schools.
This is not what the Federal Commission for Children and Youth Affairs (FCYA) wants. In a current position paper, it comments on the issue of social media bans. And says clearly:
«Blanket bans on social media for children and young people are not effective and are only a supposed solution to a complex problem.»
The commission, which is made up of 20 experts from the field of child and youth policy, takes a similar line to the Pro Juventute Foundation. It also emphasises that children and young people must have the opportunity to learn how to deal with media.
For the EKKJ, it is even the right of children and young people to have age-appropriate access to information and education and to be able to participate in digital suppliers. It is therefore in favour of participatory rules instead of blanket bans, the promotion of media skills and legal regulation of the major online platforms.
In the Commission's view, blanket bans on social media for children and young people are not expedient and are merely a supposed solution to a complex problem. The Commission considers such bans to be largely ineffective due to the negative consequences they can have. At the same time, they restrict positive and necessary learning processes, prevent the acquisition of meaningful knowledge and skills and make important experiences impossible.
Whatever these «important experiences» are supposed to be. The tech bosses are evidently refusing to allow their own children to have such experiences. Mark Zuckerberg, meta-chief and thus ruler of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, for example, does not allow his two daughters to have their own social media profile until they are 13 years old. Many other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs do the same. They keep their children away from social media.
Attack on the underdeveloped brain
The EKKJ would probably say to these parents what is also stated in the position paper. Better than general bans are regulations negotiated in a participatory manner «» . Clear rules and guidelines on media use should be developed together with the children. In doing so, «their right to have a say should be respected». Parents should also take care to promote «age-appropriate self-regulation».
However, various scientific studies and investigations have shown that self-regulation is not so easy because social media platforms specifically exploit vulnerabilities that young people's brains have not yet fully developed.
At least the EKKJ realises in the position paper at the end that social media platforms are not an offer where children and young people can primarily learn and discover. The logic of the platform operators is aimed at maximising «the duration of use and capturing the attention of users». No shit, Sherlock!
The Commission is calling for transparency obligations for platform operators and stricter regulation, even legal requirements. The aim is to create «secure framework conditions».
Platform regulation coming in 2029 at the earliest
However, these framework conditions are a long time coming. The Federal Council only launched the consultation on the regulation of online platforms at the end of October 2025 - although work on the proposal has been ongoing since 2021. While the «Digital Service Act» and the «Digital Markets Act» are already in force in the EU, for example, it is likely to take a little longer in Switzerland.
The consultation process was actually supposed to start a year and a half ago, but was then repeatedly postponed. Most recently in spring, when Switzerland was negotiating punitive tariffs with the US government and the US President made it quite clear that he did not favour any restrictions on the business activities of US companies.
Now, he doesn't have to worry too much. The timetable currently envisages that regulation will not be introduced until 2029 at the earliest.
Header image: Shutterstock
Martin Jungfer
Head of Content
Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.chJournalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.
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