AI & Our Brains + Should Social Media Be Banned for Teens? Instagram Executive's Uncensored Hot Takes | Tara Hopkins

Tara Hopkins, who leads policy work for Instagram at Meta, joins Dr. Will Cole for a candid conversation about raising teenagers in the social media era. They cover Instagram's Teen Accounts feature — the default restrictions on contact, content, and time — the AI tools Meta uses to detect teens who lie about their age, and the supervision tools available to parents. Tara shares her honest take on outright social media bans, why she believes a parent-guided gradual approach works better than a hard cutoff, and practical parenting wisdom from raising her own two teenagers, including why it's okay to tighten boundaries later and how to use the algorithm reset tool. For all links mentioned in this episode, visit www.drwillcole.com/podcast.This episode was recorded prior to Meta's agreement with a bipartisan group of 52 attorneys general across US states, territories, and the District of Columbia, building on their longstanding efforts to empower parents and support teens. Learn more at https://about.fb.com/news/2026/08/agreement-with-state-attorneys-general-supporting-teens/Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.Produced by Dear Media.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.