Pinterest CEO wants social media ban for youth under 16

Pinterest CEO Bill Ready has called on world leaders to ban social media for young people under 16.

Ready posted his statement on LinkedIn on Friday, while an experiment on teenagers’ social media use was underway in Los Angeles.

Google and Meta are facing allegations that their apps are fueling a mental health crisis in young people.

The jury is deliberating on a verdict.

“We need a clear standard: no social media for youth under 16, backed by real sanctions, and accountability for mobile phone operating systems and the apps that run on them,” Ready wrote in an article posted on his LinkedIn account.

Pinterest is an image sharing platform. Ready cited Australia’s social media ban on youth under 16 as an example. A spokesperson for Pinterest declined to comment on the post.

In calling for a ban, Ready takes a different position from the leaders of the world’s largest technology companies.

These companies face increasing pressure from regulators, courts and lawmakers to change the way children and young people use their products due to their effects on mental health.

According to the company’s website, users must be 13 years old to sign up for a Pinterest account in the US.

In recent years, the company has sought to position itself as the go-to site for Generation Z, broadly defined as people born between 1997 and 2012.

One-third of Pinterest users are between the ages of 17 and 25, according to Apptopia, a research firm.