Australia implemented the world’s first under-16 social media ban in late 2025. Now, the government’s own compliance report confirmed what a lot of people predicted: a substantial proportion of Australian kids are still on these platforms. So is the ban working? And more importantly, is a ban the right answer to the teen mental health crisis?
In this episode, Jena and Michelle trace how we got here, and how a deeply emotional debate about teen mental health became a mandate for governments to simply cut kids off from social media. They dig into what the Australian law actually covers, why banning access may be quietly letting platforms off the hook, and what the research actually says versus what the headlines told us.
Plus: our thoughts on the new book, Yesteryear, and the Met Gala.
Follow Did You See? with Jena and Michelle on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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Read our writing about social media and teen mental health
Michelle Ciulla Lipkin’s response to The Anxious Generation, NAMLE newsletter, 2024.
Is the online child safety debate for young people, or for adults?, Feed for Thought, 2026.
Check out our recs:
Is social media bad for kids’ mental health?, Aspen Ideas Festival, 2023.
Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World by Devorah Heitner, 2023.
Want to learn more?
Health advisory on social media use in adolescence, American Psychological Advisory, 2023.
Social Media Minimum Age: Compliance Update, Australia eSafety Commissioner, March 2026.
Social Media and Youth Mental Health, Office of the Surgeon General (US Department of Health and Human Services), 2023.
The great rewiring: Is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness?, Nature, 2024.
We’re not the anxious generation by Maximilian Milovidov, 2025.
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About Did You See? with Jena and Michelle
Did you see that? Whether it’s in the news or pop culture, in print or online, we are living in a media overload. It’s a lot to process!
Did You See? is for anyone looking for space to pause and work through the media moments shaping how we see and understand the world.
Michelle Ciulla Lipkin spent 25+ years in media and education — as a media literacy educator, advocate, and CUNY lecturer.
Jena Wuu spent 15+ years in tech and policy — building Uber in Europe and founding Meta’s global information ecosystem program.
Two friends, two different perspectives on the same media landscape, and a shared belief that there’s always something more to the story. ◾
