An overwhelming majority of Swiss respondents favour a ban on social media use by teenagers, according to a representative poll conducted in August 2026.
Of the 8,317 participants from German- and French-speaking Switzerland surveyed by the news portal Watson in cooperation with research institute Demoscope, 87 percent supported a blanket prohibition. The result held across genders, age groups and linguistic regions.
Support among men was 87 percent, compared with 90 percent among women. In the German-speaking region, 88 percent backed the measure, while 87 percent of respondents in the Romandie agreed.
Participants cited mental-health concerns for young people, the addictive nature of social platforms, harmful content and the risk of minors being targeted by predators online as the principal reasons for their position.
TikTok drew the sharpest opposition. Nine out of ten supporters of a ban specifically called for the app to be blocked for minors, at 97 percent. Instagram followed at 91 percent, and Snapchat at 87 percent.
On the question of a minimum age threshold, 39 percent of respondents said 16 should be the cutoff for access with parental permission, while 42 percent favoured the same age for unrestricted access.
When asked about verification methods, 72 percent chose Switzerland's electronic identity system (E-ID) as the preferred means of enforcing an age limit.
