On September 23, 2025, I delivered a keynote at the 19th International Conference “Keeping Children and Young People Safe Online” in Warsaw, Poland. My talk, Protecting Without Excluding, came at a moment when age restrictions dominate policy debates. From parliaments to press headlines, calls are growing for stricter limits on when young people can access Read More

What a blast! I had the opportunity to join the panel for the launch of DigiDuck — a special Donald Duck edition focused on digital skills, AI, and online safety. Why DigiDuck matters Digital life is evolving fast. For many kids, from a young age, interacting with media, AI, apps, and online content is part Read More

On September 11, 2025, I had the opportunity to give a keynote address at the Media Psychology Division’s 14th Conference of the German Psychological Association in Duisburg, Germany. In my talk, “Why Competence — Not Control — Should Guide the Future,” I reflected on the growing global momentum to restrict young people’s access to social Read More

The conversation about teenagers and social media is increasingly polarized. A new University of Amsterdam feature brings needed nuance. Together with my UvA colleagues, we reflect on how research has evolved beyond “good vs. bad” headlines to examine what actually shapes outcomes: the contexts in which teens use social media, what they’re doing there, and Read More

I recently had the opportunity to speak with WebPurify for a feature titled “Breaking the Loop: Why Algorithmic Dispersion Is Essential for Safer Feeds.” We explored the increasingly repetitive nature of algorithm-driven content—especially on social media platforms—and its implications for youth. This “algorithmic repetition,” while efficient for engagement, may come at the cost of diversity, Read More

Owning a smart speaker is one thing—but how are these devices used once the novelty wears off? New research, published in the Journal of Children and Media, aimed to start tackling this question. Led by Rebecca Wald (together with Theo Araujo and Annemarie van Oosten), we conducted a survey of 370 Dutch parents with young Read More

This week, I had a chance to speak on the panel “Panic Or Proof? The State of Online Safety Research” at the Family Online Safety Institute European meeting Together with colleagues Sandra Cortesi, Julia Davidson OBE, Pete Etchells, and moderator Stephen Balkam, we explored the current evidence base around online safety—including what we know, what Read More

Yesterday, a group of Dutch doctors and scientists released a public letter calling for a ban on smartphones for children under 14, and a ban on social media until 16. I understand the concern behind this appeal—youth health is a real issue—but this proposed solution is reactionary, not evidence-based, and potentially harmful. Let’s start with Read More

Together with my colleagues Theo Araujo and Laura Boeschoten, NWO has awarded us a new grant for our project entitled RIGHTS – Responsible Implementation of Gathering, Handling, and Treating Sensitive Individual Digital Traces. Normally, you will find that my work focuses on media effects and the psychological processes that predict and explain these effects – Read More