Expert says social media age bans could teach children to lie
Wednesday 11th November 2026 on 04:15 in
Estonia
Age limits on social media could encourage children to lie about their age, University of Tartu media studies associate professor Maria Murumaa-Mengel said on ETV’s programme Impulss, ERR reported. Estonia’s official position does not support age restrictions, she said.
The European Commission has proposed banning social media use for children under 13 and requiring users to be at least 15 to create their own accounts. Murumaa-Mengel, who sits on an advisory council at the Government Office, said experience elsewhere suggests age limits would lead children to misrepresent their age.
“We cannot artificially keep young people away from the digital world,” she said, adding that Estonia should instead support stronger regulation of platforms. That could include removing manipulative design or changing default settings to prevent manipulation, she said.
Social Democratic MP Madis Kallas argued that the state should take a clear and firm position. He said Estonia was one of the few European countries that had not taken legal steps on the issue, and cited feedback from psychiatrists and psychologists about social media’s effects on young people’s mental health.
“A young child’s brain is not ready for the challenges social media offers, or for its algorithms and models,” Kallas said.
Rain Epler, a member of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party parliamentary group, opposed a state ban. He said parents should be responsible for setting boundaries for their children, while the state could put pressure on technology companies rather than regulate content or impose blanket restrictions.
Content creator Maria Rannaväli said age limits had often been only symbolic. She recalled creating a YouTube account using her mother’s birth year when she was too young to meet the platform’s 13-year minimum age.
Rannaväli warned that an age limit could become an easy way for governments to show they were acting without addressing the complexity of the issue. Murumaa-Mengel said young people had told researchers in workshops that they used their parents’ identity cards and VPNs to get around restrictions.