Jersey Youth Assembly debates banning social media for under 16s
States Assembly
18 March 2026
The Jersey Youth Assembly held its second ever formal debate yesterday – 17 March – in the States Chamber, with the Deputy Bailiff Mark Temple presiding.The meeting was live-streamed and doors to the public gallery were open to the public and to the media. With 24 Members participating, proceedings began with JYA Members asking both scheduled and unscheduled questions to four Government Ministers:
- Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat;
- Minister for Infrastructure, Connétable Andy Jehan;
- Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Tom Binet; and
- Chief Minister, Deputy Lyndon Farnham.
Questions were followed by the debate of two propositions and the votes are recorded below:
- HEALTH: Vapes should be available by prescription only for those seeking to quit smoking cigarettes:
- Pour 14
- Abstain 1
- Contre 9
- DIGITAL HARM: Social media should be banned for under 16s:
- Pour 11
- Abstain 1
- Contre 12
Molly Gladwin, Education Manager at the States Greffe, said: "The JYA Members take their role seriously and have worked hard to formulate excellent questions to put to government Ministers. The debate topics that Members chose for today’s meeting – vaping and access to social media for under 16s – are complex and timely, and it’s testament to the young people that they aren't at all phased by getting stuck into the same matters that are currently being tackled by elected parliaments globally.”
Penelope, aged 17, said: “My favourite thing about today was how everyone was so passionate and had arguments that I wouldn’t have thought of myself, so it actually made me change my mind about whether social media should be banned for under 16s.”
Lewis, aged 17, said: “I prepared today by looking at work I did in psychology lessons, where I looked at different studies about development and I used that in my speech about the social media ban.”
