Summit into dangers of social media kicks off as leaders call for age limits

A summit between NSW and South Australia to address the harm of social media on young people has got underway, promoting urgent calls for legislation.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said it is more obvious than ever that a nationwide ban on social media for children is necessary.

There is still uncertainty around the age limit for the ban, however, he said the evidence suggests 14-16 would make the most impact.

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"The implications of doing nothing aren't just huge ... they're profound," Minns said.

"The rates of self-harm, of suicide, anxiety of mental health and depression almost exactly correlate with the widespread, ubiquitous use of social media."

"(We need to) ensure that young people are allowed to be young, not be influenced by bad actors around the world in a global unregulated experiment on young people.

"We need to work out the differences but we can't let perfection be the enemy of the good here."

Minns said the minimum age for social media should be "as high as possible" for the most effective legislation.

Drafting the laws is expected to start within the next few days, he added.

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NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has called for the minimum age to be lifted from the current 13 to 16.

"Parents feel powerless, watching their kids struggle under the pressure of a digital world they're not ready for," Speakman said.

"By raising the social media age to 16, we're giving families back control and protecting our young people when they need it most."

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, who spearheaded his state's ban on social media for teenagers, says he is less concerned about the specific age as long as it's a consistent number across the country.

"We cannot allow social media companies to industrialise addiction of young people for their financial benefit at the expense of children having the upbringing they deserve."

"We are far more concerned about national consistency and having a single rule that parents around the country can seek to apply than we are about what the age is."

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Once the ban is in place, the burden of regulating the laws would fall to the social media companies, Minns said.

"We are going to rely on the social media companies to do it," Minns said.

"If they don't put in place those restrictions my hope is the federal legislation will hold them to account, whether that's fines or some other remedial action."

Despite admitting that the legislation would not be "perfect" and people would breach the rules if they tried hard enough, Minns said a blanket ban would still reduce the number of teenagers harmed by social media.

South Australia and NSW have already banned phones from being used on school grounds, which both states say has delivered good results.