Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee backs social media ban for under-16s

Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, has endorsed a ban on social media use for children under 16, citing Australia's recent legislation and a similar debate underway in Spain.

Speaking before an audience of more than 500 developers and students at the Talent Arena conference in Barcelona, the British computer scientist said he was "disappointed" with technology companies such as TikTok that deliberately design addictive algorithms, calling for such systems to be disabled.

"These pieces of the web are a problem," said the creator of the first web browser at CERN in the early 1990s.

Berners-Lee, founder of the World Wide Web Foundation and a professor at the University of Oxford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), argued that social media platforms can exist without dependency-driving algorithms, singling out TikTok for criticism and contrasting it with platforms like Pinterest.

"Pinterest and TikTok are two different social networks, but one of them is much more addictive than the other."

"You have the choice when you're designing these systems whether to make them addictive or not," he told the developers in the room. 

The Turing Award laureate said that during a recent visit to Australia he found that not all children were opposed to the social media ban.

"I think some of them have discovered that having a world where they can play without mobile phones with their friends is quite comforting," he said.

Talent Arena

The Talent Arena, now in its second edition, brings together technology leaders and aims to establish itself as one of Europe's leading tech conferences.

Part of the Mobile World Congress ecosystem, it's held at Fira de Montjuïc in Barcelona and features over 200 talks and draws professionals from top global tech companies.

Other speakers this year include Boston Dynamics AI researcher Kate Darling and DJ and entrepreneur Steve Aoki.

The organizers expect to match or exceed the 20,000 visitors recorded at the 2025 edition.