Canadian psychologist Candice Odgers, who has studied adolescent mental health for 25 years, is challenging the widely accepted view that social media bans are the best way to protect young people online, arguing that such measures are likely to make things worse rather than better. Her position puts her at odds with Jonathan Haidt, author of the bestselling The Anxious Generation, whose theory of a "great rewiring of childhood" has driven political momentum behind smartphone and social media restrictions, including the UK's recent decision to follow Australia in banning social media for under-16s.

Odgers, a professor of developmental psychology at the University of California, Irvine, says she found little evidence that children's brains have been rewired by mobile phones or that social media is the primary driver of declining adolescent mental health, despite reviewing much of the same research as Haidt. She herself gave her children smartphones and let her daughter join Snapchat at age 11, and argues that debate over bans distracts from bigger issues affecting teenagers, such as the impact of Covid and the wellbeing of their adult caregivers. Haidt's book has sold more than two million copies in 44 languages, while Odgers has recently released a TED Talk, "What we're getting wrong about kids and tech", aiming to broaden the conversation.