The eighth event in the joint series “Digitalization – and now?” organized by uptownBasel and the Responsible Digital Society (RDS) research network at the University of Basel took place on March 4, 2026, in the auditorium of the University of Basel on the topic “Should there be a social media ban for under-16s in Switzerland?”

After a welcome by Prof. Heiko Schuldt, co-director of the RDS, short excerpts from documentaries and news reports on the topic from 3Sat Nano and ARD Tagesschau24 were shown. The panel discussion was moderated by Urs Gredig (SRF). To kick off the discussion, the audience was asked to express their views on various aspects of social media via an online survey. The responses were then fed directly into the panel discussion. The panelists were Maya Graf (member of the Council of States for the canton of Basel-Landschaft), Josia Jourdan (author and cultural influencer), and Prof. Dr. Lara Wolfers (head of the Digital Lives department at the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Basel). For around an hour and a half, the panel discussed a wide range of topics from different perspectives, including the impact of social media on our worldview and self-perception, digital sovereignty, the consequences of excessive dependence on technology companies, and the worrying trend toward media dependency, not only among young people but throughout society as a whole.

Bardo Magel, CEO of uptownBasel, thanked the participants on behalf of the entire organizing team for the extremely exciting and interesting discussion. The aperitif that followed provided an opportunity to continue the discussion in smaller groups. The topic of social media bans attracted a very broad and diverse audience as well as some regional media and proved to be a successful continuation of the joint event series organized by uptownBasel and the RDS. 

Report on the Event and the discussions on TeleBasel: https://telebasel.ch/sendungen/punkt6/234848?t=268