“The under-16 social media ban debate may hurt the next generation of potential entrepreneurs and founders.”
Whether it’s in business, technology, politics or just everyday life, people have always seen the world differently. And that, in itself, isn’t a problem; in fact, it can be a great thing. Different perspectives can lead to better ideas, stronger decisions and conversations that challenge us to think beyond our own assumptions.
The trouble, however, is that meaningful disagreement seems to be becoming increasingly rare. Instead of engaging with opposing viewpoints, many of us gravitate towards communities, platforms and content that reflect what we already believe. Over time, it’s easy to mistake familiarity for consensus and assume our own perspective is the obvious one.
The result of this isn’t better discussion, it’s less of it. When ideas go unchallenged, opportunities to learn, reconsider or refine our thinking can easily be lost.
That’s where Quite Contrary comes in. This TechRound series is built around bold opinions, contentious viewpoints and arguments that won’t always win universal approval. Each edition begins with a deliberately contrarian perspective before inviting the wider TechRound community to weigh in, agree, disagree and add their own take to the debate.
This Week’s Contrarian
This week’s hot take comes from Charlie Terry, the Founder and CEO of CEEK Marketing, a UK-based omnichannel marketing agency founded in 2016. Terry asserts that the decision to stop children under the age of 16 from using social media all over the media only takes into account the risks involved, but in the process, ignores the opportunities social media provides young people. Specifically when it comes to learning business and entrepreneurial skills.
So, does Charlie’s opinion on the under-16 social media ban hold water, or is the original framing of the issue as a safety problem the full picture?
Charles Terry, Founder and CEO of XEEK Marketing
Charlie Terry is the Founder and CEO of CEEK Marketing, a UK-based omnichannel marketing agency founded in 2016. Under Charlie’s leadership, CEEK has become one of the UK’s fastest-growing independent agencies, helping brands increase visibility across search, social, influencer and paid media, with a growing focus on AI driven discovery and how brands are found online.
A serial entrepreneur himself, Charlie has built and scaled multiple businesses across recruitment, hospitality and marketing. He is a regular commentator on digital marketing, AI visibility, entrepreneurship and the future of consumer behaviour, with a particular focus on how technology is reshaping the way businesses are built, discovered and grown.
Charlie’s Hot Take
“The under-16 social media ban debate may hurt the next generation of potential entrepreneurs and founders.”
“The debate around social media restrictions has rightly focused on protecting young people from harmful content, but it risks overlooking another important consequence. For many teenagers, platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube have become one of the first places they learn practical business skills, from marketing and branding to e-commerce, audience building and customer acquisition.
“Charlie Terry argues that while stronger safeguards are essential, policymakers must also recognise that social media has evolved beyond entertainment. It has become one of the UK’s most important informal learning environments for entrepreneurship, marketing and digital skills.
“With 75% of 16 to 19-year-olds saying they want to start a business, and more than a third already earning money through side hustles, restricting access without creating alternative pathways risks weakening the pipeline of future entrepreneurs, founders, marketers and business owners. The challenge isn’t choosing between online safety and opportunity; it’s creating a framework that successfully delivers both.”
Thoughts From the TechRound Community:
- Molly S. McClure: Fractional CMO, Marketing Executive
- Dr. Tonisha Pinckney: Crisis and Chaos Strategist; Founder and CEO; Revelatus Advisory and Consulting, LLC
- Ben Frederick MD: Founder at Dr. Frederick’s Original
- George Athan: Founder at RocketFuel Marketing
- Jenna Lofton: Founder at StockHitter.com
- Todd Saunders: Founder and CEO of Dalton Mills
- Daniel Maghini: Founder at The Gift Whisperer
- Angela Zeng, PhD, MBA: Founder and CEO at Karviva
- Hannah Scott: Social Media Director for White Label Arthouse
- Shawn M. Miller: Co-Founder and Chief Right Brain at PKGD Group
- Kevin Walker: Founder and Senior Cyber Security Consultant at Black Swan Cyber Security Solutions
- Harpal Singh: Founder of blimpp
- Darren Taylor: Founder, Digital Marketing and Social Media Expert at Lead Velocity
- Réland Logan: Founder at Gray Digital Marketing
- Dr. Bert Seither: Assistant Professor, Management and Entrepreneurship at The University of Tampa
Molly S. McClure, Fractional CMO, Marketing Executive
“I agree with the premise, but I’d be careful about giving social media too much credit for creating the next generation of entrepreneurs. Young people were entrepreneurial long before TikTok existed. What has changed is the barrier to entry. A teenager can now learn branding, test an idea, build an audience, understand analytics and potentially find a customer without having capital or connections.
“As a marketer, I think that access matters. But so do the very real concerns around harmful content, algorithms and young people’s wellbeing. The answer shouldn’t have to be unrestricted access or complete exclusion.
“I’d rather see us teach young people how to use these platforms intentionally: how algorithms influence what they see, how advertising works, how creators monetize attention, how to distinguish credibility from popularity and how their own data is being used. Digital literacy may ultimately be a better preparation for the world they’re entering than simply removing the screen.”
Dr. Tonisha Pinckney, Crisis and Chaos Strategist; Founder and CEO; Revelatus Advisory and Consulting, LLC
“I do not think this is an either/or issue. Restrictions have a role. Parental involvement has a role. Platforms should be held more accountable for what minors are exposed to and how their systems are designed. But education is missing from too much of this discussion.
“If we know young people are going to interact with digital platforms, then we should teach responsible use rather than rely almost entirely on restriction. Platforms could be required to provide periodic learning modules for users under 18 on privacy, misinformation, scams, manipulation, digital reputation, healthy use, and even basic business and media literacy.
“I would also consider gamifying access or certain platform features based on demonstrated knowledge and responsible use, similar to the way organizations use phishing simulations and awareness campaigns. We do not improve cybersecurity by simply telling employees never to click anything. We train them to recognize risk. I think there is a similar opportunity here.
“The debate should not be framed as access versus restriction. The better question is whether we are preparing young people to function responsibly in digital environments they will eventually have to navigate anyway.
“Social media can expose young people to entrepreneurship in action. They can see how ideas become products, how audiences are built, where markets have gaps, and how personal interests can become creative or economic opportunities. That exposure has value.
“But access without education is weak policy, and restriction without education only delays the problem.
“Platforms should share responsibility for teaching younger users how to recognize manipulation, misinformation, scams, privacy risks, and unhealthy use. Parental involvement and age-appropriate controls matter, but so does digital literacy.
“The goal should not simply be to keep young people away from social media. It should be to teach them how to enter digital spaces with judgment, awareness, and purpose.”
Ben Frederick MD, Founder at Dr. Frederick’s Original
“Somewhere in between. Pulling teenagers off these platforms does remove a real training ground, but I’d challenge the assumption that what they’re learning there is durable. Most of what gets picked up is distribution inside someone else’s algorithm.
“Rules change, reach evaporates, and the skill doesn’t transfer cleanly to a business that has to survive on its own economics. The parts that do carry over are knowing exactly who your buyer is, what problem you solve, pricing so the unit still works after costs, and handling the customer after money changes hands. None of that requires an account.
“A framework that delivers both safety and opportunity should teach those fundamentals somewhere other than a feed, because the feed can be taken away at any time by a company with no obligation to the teenager using it.
“On skipping the organic foundation and going straight to ads, paid traffic buys attention, never belief. A stranger who clicks a cold ad decides in a few seconds based on what’s sitting in front of them. Reviews they can read, plain answers to the obvious objection, a visible returns policy, and a real person and a real reason the product exists. Without that, you’re paying full price for every introduction and starting from zero trust each time, so the landing page has to carry the entire argument alone.”
George Athan, Founder at RocketFuel Marketing
“Closing off social platforms without a replacement learning path would shrink the pipeline of young operators who learn marketing by doing. I’ve watched small teams and founders get their first customers, test messaging, and learn creative iteration on Instagram and YouTube long before they ever hired an agency.
“That said, safety rules matter. The fix isn’t “no social.” It’s supervised access, clear guardrails, and teaching kids how to build an audience ethically. In Client Machine and at RocketFuel Marketing, the pattern that scales is the same one teens stumble into organically: one clear offer, one persona, proof, then paid amplification once the message works. If we strip the practice ground away and leave only ads, we get weaker marketers and weaker founders.”
Jenna Lofton, Founder at StockHitter.com
“A teenager can learn a great deal by trying to sell something online: choosing a customer, explaining an offer and discovering that attention doesn’t always turn into sales. Losing that opportunity would matter.
“But I don’t buy the idea that entrepreneurship depends on access to a particular feed. A school enterprise project, a supervised online shop or a local service business can teach pricing, margins and customer service too. Those options deserve funding and practical support if access changes.
“What worries me is teaching young founders to judge a business by followers. They also need to know what a customer costs to acquire, whether an order makes money and why someone would buy again. I’d support safeguards that preserve supervised opportunities to publish and trade, alongside basic business education. We should be able to protect children while still letting them learn how to earn money responsibly.”
Todd Saunders, Founder and CEO of Dalton Mills
“Cutting kids under 16 off social media may cut some harm. Calling that free for future founders is the mistake. Most HVAC, plumbing, and electrical operators I talk to did not learn marketing in a classroom. They learned it watching other shops on YouTube and TikTok: call fees, Google Business Profiles, bad reviews, selling without sounding salesy.
“That is an apprenticeship in public. A lot of blue-collar operators get the confidence to start or grow a shop there. If we kill the practice layer and leave only ads, we train the next generation to buy attention before they know how to earn it. Protect kids from predatory product design. That is not the same as deleting where future operators learn how trust gets built.”
Daniel Maghini, Founder at The Gift Whisperer
“Charlie’s right that social platforms are the cheapest place a teenager can test whether an idea works: post something, watch what happens, adjust. That loop is closer to real entrepreneurship than most school assignments get. But the skill being built isn’t “use TikTok,” it’s the discipline of publishing something, reading the response honestly, and changing course.
“I learned that running a one-person company, not by growing up online, and I’ve seen what happens when you skip the organic part entirely. I ran paid ads for my own product before I had any organic trust built up. The ads got real clicks. None of them converted.
“If teen access to platforms gets restricted, the underlying loop doesn’t have to disappear with it. Schools and parents could build the same publish-and-adjust habit through smaller channels. The mistake would be assuming the platform is the lesson, when it’s really just where the lesson happens to be cheap right now.”
José Rolão, Digital Marketer, Social Media Specialist and Content Creator
“For me, the solution does not lie in prohibition, but rather in education and in creating limits within the platforms themselves. For example, explicit adult content should not pass through the Instagram or YouTube algorithm, for example.
“That content can exist, but on the appropriate dedicated platforms, for people over 18 and with an age-verification system. Because banning it, while all that content continues to exist on easily accessible platforms without there being education that starts at home and at school, is, for me, not the solution to changing social behaviours.”
Angela Zeng, PhD, MBA, Founder and CEO at Karviva
“As a mother, a trained pathologist, and a founder, I see both sides. My TEDx talk was about children’s mental health, and I have watched what endless scrolling does to young minds. So protection is the key. My take is that social media taught teenagers some real business skills, but it was never meant to replace the classroom. Instead of teaching knowledge, the screen trains them to chase likes, not real customers one can connect with.
“Over time, this practice can confuse attention with trust. The skills that built my brand, Karviva, like talking to a retail buyer, listening to a customer at a tasting table, and fixing a product that did not sell, all happened offline. If we restrict access, we should replace it with something better: school enterprise projects, local market fairs, and internships with small businesses. Teenagers who learn to sell to a real person face to face will be ready for any platform later. The platforms will change anyway (they always do).”
Hannah Scott, Social Media Director for White Label Arthouse
“As a mother and as social media expert, this one is hard for me to admit. I see the benefits that social media is one of the first places kids are exposed to practical business skills. This can do wonders and create opportunities a child may not have access to which I love! However, the greater picture shows that childhood suicide rates have more than tripled during the rise of social media.
“So the question becomes “At what cost are we willing to sacrifice for the 75% that simply have a desire?”
“I believe that if we limit access to social media, parents and kids will find new outlets to introduce practical business skills in safer environments that are fully focused on those skills.”
Shawn M. Miller, Co-Founder and Chief Right Brain at PKGD Group
“I do not believe the answer is to pretend social media is harmless, but I also do not believe removing it leaves young people exactly where they started. These platforms are where many teenagers first learn that an idea can find an audience, that attention must be earned, and that trust matters more than reach. That is real, useful entrepreneurial education. It matters.
“The danger is confusing access with preparation. A teenager can learn marketing, selling, editing, customer service and basic economics online, while also being exposed to manipulation, unhealthy comparison and incentives designed by adults for engagement, not development.
“So protect young people, absolutely. But build the replacement before closing the door. Give them supervised access, digital literacy, practical business education and places to test ideas safely. The choice is not safety or entrepreneurship. Good policy should demand both, because the skills will matter whether platforms survive or disappear.”
Kevin Walker, Founder and Senior Cyber Security Consultant at Black Swan Cyber Security Solutions
“I didn’t go to university – I’ve spent 30 years learning by doing, so I understand the value of teenagers trying things, finding customers and making mistakes.
“But learning to please an algorithm isn’t the same as learning to run a business. Plenty of likes won’t help if you’ve priced every job at a loss.
“After more than 20 years supporting schools, I’m uncomfortable with suggesting children need access to today’s social platforms to become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. The opportunity matters, but so does the environment we’re asking them to learn in.
“I’d like schools and local businesses to offer more supervised enterprise projects, including digital marketing, alongside lessons in spotting scams, protecting accounts and handling customer information.
“If access is restricted, those alternatives need funding and people behind them. A ban on its own won’t teach anybody how to find a customer.
“Young people deserve a safe place to start experimenting.”
Harpal Singh, Founder of blimpp
“Of course, social media is still a entertainment platform dominated by the younger population. However, it has evolved to become a platform to help shape the next generation’s marketing skills. Users can learn how different ideas and contents are created and posted to shape and influence customers’ buying decisions. They learn how different brands define and build their personalities and voices.
“These are highly valuable skills to learn and master in a digital economy. While learning how to use Instagram or TikTok is not difficult, understanding how to effectively convert audience’s interest to customers’ purchase is more difficult and valuable.”
Darren Taylor, Founder, Digital Marketing and Social Media Expert at Lead Velocity
“Rather than asking if young people should use social media, our focus needs to be how do we protect young people’s access to the benefits of using social media. For example, developing their ability to create engaging content, understand their target audiences, develop effective branding strategies etc, while also mitigating the legitimate risks?
“If we restrict children’s/young people’s access to social media, then these potential learning experiences will need to be replaced with alternative learning experiences or education/training in digital marketing. Or for example, entrepreneurship and content development in schools, colleges, workplaces, and/or other youth programs. There is the very real risk that restricting young peoples’ access to social media may create a ‘disconnect’ between keeping young people safe from online harms and providing them with the necessary digital skills for an economy that is increasingly reliant upon such.”
Réland Logan, Founder at Gray Digital Marketing
“Charlie is right that teenagers are learning real business skills on these platforms, and the safety case is still the stronger one, so both things are true at the same time. What worries me is what they are learning. Social media teaches distribution beautifully and teaches positioning badly.
“A sixteen-year-old can build an audience of forty thousand and still not be able to answer what she sells and who it is for, and that gap follows her into her twenties, when she is a consultant with twenty years of expertise and a brand nobody can repeat back to her. I see it every week.
“So if the UK pulls back access, the thing worth building in its place is a way to teach young founders to decide what they sell before they learn how to perform it.”
Dr. Bert Seither, Assistant Professor, Management and Entrepreneurship at The University of Tampa
“Protecting young people online and helping them develop entrepreneurial skills should not be treated as competing goals. Social platforms have become informal laboratories where young people can learn how ideas spread, audiences form, products are positioned, feedback works, and value gets communicated. Those are real entrepreneurial skills.
“But I would be careful about equating entrepreneurship education with unrestricted access to social media. The better question is what experiences we want young people to have and how we can provide them safely. Young people can test ideas, create content, communicate with customers, build portfolios, and learn basic marketing within age-appropriate environments and with stronger safeguards.
“Entrepreneurship begins with curiosity, experimentation, and learning from real people. If restrictions are introduced, we should make sure we are not accidentally eliminating the environments where some young people first discover that they can create something of their own.”
