“As both a CEO and a parent, I believe we need to be honest: Social media as it exists today is not safe for children under 16,” Reidy wrote in a LinkedIn post. “We need clearer rules, better tools for parents, and more accountability in the tech ecosystem.”
In an opinion piece published by Time magazine on Friday, Reidy criticized the engagement-focused design of social media platforms and the increasing inclusion of AI chatbots, claiming the practices are having a negative impact on the well-being of children who use these platforms.
He compared social media companies to tobacco executives of the last century, who did not act “in the best interest of the public” and “had to be embarrassed and sued.”
“Our industry has had years to mitigate these harms, but has repeatedly failed. The time for self-regulation has passed, and if tech companies don’t change, the path should be clear for lawmakers to act,” Reidy wrote. “We need a clear standard: no social media for teens under 16, backed by real enforcement, and accountability for mobile phone operating systems and the apps that run on them.”
Australia was the first country to ban under-16s from social media in a landmark decision that took effect in December 2025. Since then, many countries have begun to follow in Australia’s footsteps, with various social media restriction plans introduced by legislators around the world, especially in Europe.
The ban aims to address the serious mental health consequences and threat of online sexual predators who harass children and teens with unrestricted social media access.
According to the latest World Happiness Report from the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, higher rates of Internet use are related to lower life satisfaction for young people, with the effect particularly visible among girls. Data coming from Latin America also showed that algorithm-generated content was worse for user mental health than communication-focused social media platforms. And social media use in the Middle East and North Africa, where it is highest in the world, is related to higher stress and more depressive symptoms.
The report published Thursday also cites leading social media critics, who argue there is “overwhelming evidence” of sextortion and cyberbullying and “compelling evidence” of social media-related depression and anxiety among young people.
Leading scientists cited in the study also claim that social media use “is not appropriately safe for children and adolescents” and that “the rapid adoption of always-available social media by adolescents in the early 2010s” was “a major contributor to the population-level increase in mental illness that emerged in many Western countries by the mid-2010s.”
But critics of social media restrictions say these measures are ineffective at keeping children off social media, and some claim that requiring age verification could create a mass surveillance system ripe for abuse by bad actors.
As Ready shared in the article, Pinterest has removed social features for teens, making every account run by a user under 16 completely private, with no searches, messages, likes, or comments from strangers. Still, Gen Z accounts for more than 50% of Pinterest users, according to the CEO.
“Our experience shows that prioritizing safety and well-being doesn’t drive young people away; it builds confidence,” Reidy wrote. “The price of inaction is a generation of youth suffering from anxiety and depression. Right now, adolescence is being played inside a global social experiment run by tech companies.”
Pinterest specifically supports the App Store Accountability Act, which was recently approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and will make its way to the House floor. The act proposes that app stores establish age verification and require parental consent to link minors’ devices to parents or guardians.
Similar device-level age restrictions have also gained popularity in state legislatures across the country.
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