Social media’s relentless grip is ravaging a generation of young Ethiopians, fueling addiction, mental collapse, and predation while eroding real-world bonds. Nations from Australia to Denmark impose tough bans to rescue childhood, but Ethiopian authorities flood platforms with propaganda, exploiting the chaos they ignore for kids. This hypocrisy courts disaster: without swift controls, our youth face irreversible harm and national turmoil.
Endless scrolling on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook steals hours meant for play, study, and growth, leaving kids isolated and underdeveloped. Global studies tie heavy use to soaring teen depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide, as algorithms push dangerous challenges and cyberbullying. In Ethiopia, 43% of university students battle internet addiction, linked to depression, low self-esteem, gaming, and khat chewing—rates climbing among younger teens in poor households with unchecked phone access.
Rudeness explodes online: children hurl insults over trivial chats, crushing self-esteem before it forms. Predators lurk everywhere—10% of Ethiopian internet users aged 12-17 suffered severe online sexual exploitation last year, coerced into explicit photos for game access or chats. Distorted ideals peddle makeup on eight-year-olds and consumerism over chores, turning innocence into a marketing trap.
Australia blazed the trail with a world-first under-16 ban effective December 2025, hitting platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and X with $32-49.5 million fines for failing age checks via facial recognition or IDs—millions of accounts already deleted. Malaysia rolls out a similar under-16 prohibition from January 2026, demanding government ID verification.
Denmark targets under-15s, with parental opt-in from 13, calling platforms “childhood thieves” amid rising anxiety. France requires consent for under-15s; Belgium bars under-13s outright; Norway eyes 15 as the limit with strict controls; the EU and Germany advance age rules. These moves prioritize kids over Big Tech profits, proving bans feasible and effective.
Here, social media ignites ethnic hate and violence—Facebook algorithms supercharged Tigray atrocities—yet leaders shut networks during protests instead of shielding youth. A state “digital army” of paid trolls from Prosperity Party offices swamps Facebook, X, Telegram, and YouTube with propaganda, hijacks hashtags, and harasses critics via bot swarms and Telegram coordination.
Agencies deploy Deep Packet Inspection to spy on traffic, calls, and posts, while pressuring Meta and TikTok for takedowns. No youth bans exist amid 44% addiction in Addis Ababa University health students and widespread grooming—public awareness lags, laws toothless. Authorities omnipresent online for control, blind to child victims.
This irony breeds mayhem: unregulated feeds radicalize youth, spread lies, and trap them with pedophiles and cruel peers, echoing a lawless frontier gutting childhood globally. Ethiopia courts deeper ruin—addicted students flunk academics, mental health crumbles, unrest festers as kids echo online venom offline. While Australia reclaims futures, our laissez-faire path invites violence, with vulnerable youth fodder for exploitation and division.
Ban children under 16 from social media now—enforce age verification, fine violators, delete accounts. Parents: lock devices, push playgrounds over phones, model screen-free lives. Ethiopia must adopt African Union child safety policies with teeth: awareness campaigns, platform accountability, school programs. Halt the digital army’s dominance; redirect to protection. Reclaim our children’s innocence from this beast before it devours a generation.
Why children should be kept off social media
By Anastasia Mironova
Rudeness, advertising, and pedophilia. That is the short list of reasons why children should not be on social media. The longer list barely fits into one column.
The wisest people on Earth, I have concluded, live where kangaroos, koalas, and wombats roam. Australia has banned children under 16 from registering on social media. Platforms are now required to delete children’s accounts, even those pretending to be adults, and to pay fines for harm caused to minors. From January, Malaysia will introduce a similar ban. The European Parliament is openly discussing following Australia’s example.
Well done.
The ideal parental world is one where children do not have access to social media. Or Roblox, for that matter. I would gladly cooperate with Australia. Bear and kangaroo, side by side.
This idea is not exotic or radical. France already requires parental consent for children under 15 to join social networks. Belgium bans social media for children under 13. Norway and Germany have introduced various forms of parental control. The trend is obvious. Within a year or two, children may largely disappear from social media. I am convinced that some countries will go further and restrict children’s access to the internet altogether.
Russia, however, is unlikely to follow this path. Our internet regulation remains extremely liberal. The infamous Yarovaya laws, channel registration, and server localization all arrived later than in the West. And there is another reason: money. We are a country of overdeveloped capitalism. Children represent billions in revenue. Who here would willingly shut off such a golden stream? The Australian scenario will not work in Russia.
Still, any parent who actually raises their child, rather than handing them a smartphone at six months and forgetting about them, understands why children should be kept off social media and why internet use must be strictly limited.
The problem has two sides.
The first is wasted time. A child glued to a phone is not developing. It does not matter whether they are gaming, chatting, or watching brainless bloggers who resemble them in every way. The result is the same: time is squandered. Years meant for learning and growth are spent on Roblox, TikTok, and endless chatter with strangers. We already see the consequences of growing up with phones. There is no need to list them again.
Parents who spend all day scrolling while ‘raising’ children should be ashamed.
Yet instead of admitting this, many boast: “I’m teaching my child technology early!” Or: “They used to chat in the yard, now they chat online. What’s the difference?” They accuse critics of being stuck in the past, while proudly presenting their laziness as progress.
There is a quote attributed to Steve Jobs. He allegedly said his children were not allowed to use computers, because it takes two weeks to become an advanced user, but a childhood spent staring at screens costs something far more valuable: time for real development.
The second argument, that online communication simply replaces yard games, is false. We did not sit in courtyards for ten hours straight. We did not chat endlessly. Even the worst hooligans knew how to occupy themselves. Today’s children spend hours every day messaging about nothing. These are often children who do not read, do not study well, and narrow each other’s intellectual horizons. It would be better to go to the swings or comb a cat than to spend evenings in digital chatter with the equally ignorant.
Unlimited communication is disastrous. Children degrade not because they fail to go outside, but because they now spend all their time among underdeveloped, tongue-tied interlocutors. I am speaking, of course, about children addicted to the internet.
The dangers are not theoretical.
Yes, there are paedophiles and scammers. Anyone who still doubts this is naïve. I hear such stories constantly. Recently, a subscriber told me that his daughter was asked by a “donor” on Roblox to photograph her sleeping father naked. She went straight to him. Another man mocked this story in the comments. The next morning, he wrote privately: his own son had been asked to send a photo in his underwear to gain access to a Telegram chat.
I remember a woman describing how a recruiter joined a children’s hockey team chat and invited ten-year-old boys to auditions. They were instructed to film full-body videos – in underwear. These stories are endless. Even a smart teenager can be confused. A greedy, weak, or frightened child may comply for a promised $60.
And yet, this is not even the biggest danger.
Far more common are rudeness, humiliation, and cruelty.
My daughter once secretly created a Telegram account. It was with her father’s knowledge, but not mine. I discovered it by accident. She had joined chats devoted to a husky named Bandit. Children aged seven to ten were arguing whether the dog in recent videos was the same one. My daughter expressed an opinion. In response, she was told: “You stupid creature, wash the pus out of your eyes!” This abuse continued relentlessly. Over a dog.
Another time, I discovered that my daughter had been posting videos on Likee for six months. I cried all night. The content was awful: messy hair, chaos in her grandmother’s house, dogs jumping around, everything upside down. She pretended to be an actress. Hundreds of subscribers appeared and some were adults. Others insulted her appearance daily. Her self-esteem collapsed.
Then there is consumption and distorted beauty standards. Eight-year-old girls in makeup and heels. Filters. Videos explaining that a girl should only date boys with sports cars and giant bouquets. I saw a child declare that she would never clean, because her future husband would pay for services. This is not innocence. This is marketing.
And marketing knows exactly how to find children.
Social media today is a wild frontier where even adults struggle to orient themselves. Why should children roam there? Why should they face pedophiles, scammers, malicious peers, aggressive advertising, and constant humiliation. Especially when they could be studying, playing, or simply growing up?
There is no convincing answer to that question.
