Will banning social media or smartphones help curb misogyny? Experts disagree

"The hatred of women is everywhere and dictates the way men behave online," one young Gen Z person said in a recent poll when asked about misogyny on social media, while a young man said, "it isn’t that deep. It’s all a laugh". 

According to the Amnesty International survey released this week, 73 per cent of Gen Z social media users (those aged 13-28) in the UK have witnessed misogynistic content online, with half encountering it every week. 

The poll comes as social media has been placed under an even brighter spotlight following the release of the Netflix drama Adolescence, which follows the fictional story of the social media-fuelled murder of a schoolgirl by a 13-year-old boy. 

The show’s co-creator Jack Thorne has called on the UK government to ban smartphones for those under 16, following a similar move made by Australia to ban social media for the same age range.

However, experts warn that a ban does not get to the root of the problem. 

There is no current data to suggest that banning social media for under 16s works. 

The most recent study published in Lancet Regional Health Europe - and the first of its kind - looked at the impact of smartphone bans in schools across England and found that they made no difference to mental well-being, sleep, or educational outcomes.

The study was limited in that it only evaluated bans during school hours and not an outright prohibition, as some countries have suggested.

However, restricting smartphone use until the age of 16 may not work either as it may be too late for children to be educated about the harms of social media. 

"Currently, it does look like the age of 16 is the age at which a child is allowed full access to social media. So you've got to think, what happens when a child