Evidence to support state policies regulating teen use of social media is limited, study finds

Evidence supporting policies that restrict social media use like school cell phone bans and anti-cyberbullying laws has significant limitations according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.  The findings are published in the latest issue of the Milbank Quarterly.

More than 50 bills related to adolescent social media regulation have been adopted or enacted in more than half of all U.S. states, with legislators often citing concerns about mental health, harmful content, and developmental impacts. According to the article, most of the legislation uses one of two strategies to reduce adolescents’ social media use or to shape their experiences: 1) imposing restrictions or mandates on social media platforms such as required privacy protection or bans on targeted advertising, or 2) imposing restrictions or mandates on adolescent users, parents, and school administrators, such as bans on cell phones or social media on school-owned devices.

After analyzing the policies, authors Marco Thimm-Kaiser and Katherine M. Keyes at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health evaluated media content that included elected government officials’ statements about 69 state social media legislative initiatives adopted or enacted prior to September 2024. They then looked at the strength of the research on social media’s effects, and the impact of inventions, on mental health, harmful content, and developmental impacts.  

The authors identified some evidence to support associations between social media use and adverse adolescent outcomes, particularly for vulnerable youth, but concluded that the research cannot definitively establish the “causal effects” of harm or the benefits of the policies.

“We’re seeing policymakers move with increasing urgency to protect youth from the possible negative impacts of social media and digital technologies,” said Marco Thimm-Kaiser, a doctoral student in Epidemiology at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health and lead author of the study. “At the same time, the precise role of social media in contributing to adverse outcomes for young people, as well as the effectiveness of policies aimed at restricting youth social media use, remain far from fully understood. As the evidence continues to evolve, it will be vital for policymakers to remain open to reevaluating and refining the emerging policy interventions to ensure we are getting the response right."

Authors Thimm-Kaiser and Keyes offer several priorities for researchers that will help inform policy, including differentiating among types of social media experiences; focusing on children and adolescents with psychiatric symptoms, who are more likely to report harm from social media, such as addiction-like symptoms; and rigorously evaluating existing state policies. They also call for state policymakers to balance action with evidence as they introduce social media interventions for adolescents.

“As technology continues to evolve rapidly, it is critical that policies intended to protect young people are based on rigorous science, while also striking a careful balance between thorough evaluation and timely policy implementation” noted Katherine Keyes, PhD, Columbia Mailman School professor of Epidemiology, and senior author. “Our research shows that the evidence base underlying social media policies continues to have serious gaps that need to be filled so that we can inform the most effective policies.”

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the third largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its nearly 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change and health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with more than 1,300 graduate students from 55 nations pursuing a variety of master’s and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit www.mailman.columbia.edu.