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A recent poll reported by broadcaster Yle on Thursday shows that the majority of teenagers in Finland worry that a potential ban on social media would leave them feeling more isolated.
The study was conducted by Social Affairs and Health Ministry groups among around 61,000 children and young people aged between 11 and 19.
One-third of 11- to 13-year-olds and more than half of 13- to 19-year-olds said they would feel lonely more often without access to social media, while some said their contact with relatives would decrease in such a case.
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The survey found that 29% of 11- to 13-year-olds and 47% of 13- to 19-year-olds report using social media between three and five hours per day.
Meanwhile, 7% of the younger group and 17% of the older group report using it more than five hours a day.
The survey also found that respondents believed they would exercise and sleep more, as well as spend more time meeting friends face-to-face, if they did not use social media.
About a quarter of 11- to 13-year-olds said they believed a universal age limit would be a good idea, while one-third of older respondents shared the same view.
In the meantime, more than half of the children and young people surveyed said they would find ways to bypass age restrictions to access social media if the minimum age limit was set above their own age.
These findings come amid intense legislative discussions in the country, where Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has expressed strong support for a potential law banning social media access for children under the age of 15.
The proposed legal restrictions aim to curb declining physical activity and combat the negative impacts of excessive screen time on youth well-being.
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