Opinion
A social media ban is no substitute for school
The proposal to restrict social media for under-16s opens a necessary debate but risks dodging the key question.
By ANN Newsroom · Newsroom
October 20, 2026, 16:10 · Updated 12:21 · 1 min read
Prime Minister Rama told Tirana high school principals that the government is drafting a restriction on social media for children under 16 and is studying a lower age of criminal responsibility. Both ideas came after protests in which minors were also arrested.
The debate about children and screens is legitimate and is happening in many countries. But a law drafted in the middle of a crisis risks looking more like punishment than a policy to protect children. Rules like these work when they are clear, enforceable and discussed with parents, teachers and young people themselves.
The practical questions are many: who verifies age, how children's personal data is protected, and what happens to platforms that do not comply with the law. Without answers to them, the ban stays on paper.
Lowering the age of criminal responsibility is even more serious. It touches on how the state sees teenagers: as children to be educated or as adults to be punished. Such a decision deserves time, experts and data, not the haste of a tense week.
If the goal is for young people not to see violence as a language, school, family and the spaces where they are heard have more power than any ban. Social media can be regulated; a generation's trust cannot be fixed by law.
