TikTok no more? European governments mull social media ban for minors
Could platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube soon be off-limits for millions of teenagers across Europe? That’s the goal of a proposal backed by several European countries, including Spain, France and Greece.
Supporters say it’s necessary to protect children under the age of 15, or 16, from the harmful effects of social media. They point to studies linking social media to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem as well as cyberbullying and online predators.
Experts however warn it’s more complicated than that, referring to the social and developmental benefits children get from being online and arguing a complete ban goes against overall children’s rights. They advocate for online platforms to take more responsibility in creating a safe online space instead.
“Right now the debate is really focused on safety and these bans come from a place where policymakers are a little bit tired of online platforms not complying and not really providing that safety that they are supposed to do by law,” Fabiola Bas Palomares, Lead Policy and Advocacy Officer Online Safety at Eurochild, told the European Newsroom (enr).
Cultural diversity across the EU is also at play. “Different countries have different cultures and they accept different types of content and behaviours at different ages. So any tool developed should also take into account that difference in culture and how countries conceive childhood,” said Verónica Donoso, a Research Fellow at the Media Culture & Policy Lab of KU Leuven.
If Spain, France and others do decide to push ahead with a ban they will not be the first countries to do so – such as Australia – but for now here in Europe the debate around children’s use of social media rumbles on.
