It’s One Thing to Complain about Social Media — It’s Another to Build Something Better, Safer and Respectful to users
- declan280
- Feb 8
- 2 min read
Across Europe and around the world, policymakers, parents, teachers and health professionals are alarmed about social media’s effects
Across Europe and around the world, policymakers, parents, teachers and health professionals are alarmed about social media’s effects social media’s effects, especially on young people. Countries like Spain, France and even Australia have introduced or are considering outright bans on social media for children under 16 to an effort to curb online harms.
In Ireland too, voices from government and civil society have urged strong action on social media’s risks to children’s wellbeing.
But here’s the thing: banning access isn’t a real solution. It may reduce exposure in narrow ways, but it won’t stop the root problems, and it may throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Experts warn that strict bans often push young people toward less safe, unregulated corners of the internet or create secrecy and stress rather than genuine protection. Meanwhile, age verification is notoriously hard to enforce without invasive data collection that can undermine privacy rights.
The real debate should not be whether social media is bad or good, it’s about what kind of digital spaces we want and deserve.
Why Safe, Respectful Options Matter
Current dominant social platforms were built around attention-driven algorithms and business models that reward engagement at any cost. That can mean:
addictive scrolling
polarising content
amplification of harmful material
superficial interactions
And while many people benefit from connection, creativity and community online, too often mental health, safety and dignity get sacrificed in the pursuit of eyeballs.
This is where the world needs a fundamental shift, from technology designed to profit from attention to technology designed to enhance human well-being.
People don’t just want less harm; they want better alternatives where:
Respect is built into the design
Safety is not an afterthought
Inclusivity is native, not bolted on
Multilingual access brings people together instead of dividing them
Building the Other Option
That’s why EuVibe exists.
We believe that Europe, with its strong legal frameworks such as GDPR and the Digital Services Act has an opportunity to lead in creating platforms that truly reflect human values.
Instead of only restricting access to existing systems, we need to design new ecosystems that:
prioritise well-being over engagement metrics
give communities tools to connect without exploitation
protect children and adults alike without isolating them
encourage digital literacy and critical thinking rather than hiding technology from young people
Banning social media solves one part of the problem, but it doesn’t answer a deeper question: “how do we help people flourish in digital spaces”
The answer lies not in exclusion, but in building alternatives, respectful, ethical, safe, and grounded in community values. EuVibe offers a Social Partnership Platform an Interactive Network. www.euvibe.eu
Because the internet is not going away. People will go online, the question is whether they do so in spaces that support them… or spaces that shape them.
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