Canadians approve of banning youth from social media: Survey
· Toronto Sun
OTTAWA — Canadians are swiping right on banning youth from accessing social media.
In a survey released Monday by Angus Reid , Canadians widely approve of prohibiting anyone under the age of 16 from accessing social media platforms — a move recently done by Australia to keep its country’s youth from accessing the services.
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Three-quarters of survey respondents support a full ban, with 41% expressing strong support.
Another 34% said they supported the move, with only 13% opposing a ban, and just 5% strongly opposing a ban.
Those who weren’t sure tallied 7%.
The survey found support was strongest among households with children, at 70%.
Screen time addiction ranked as the highest concern among those polled, tying at 94% with mental health concerns.
Other concerns include online predators, exposure to misinformation and cyberbullying, privacy concerns, exposure to pornography or explicit content, and political radicalization.
Social media rules evolving worldwide
In December, Australia became the world’s first nation to ban kids from social media, blocking those 16 and under from TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram — with social media firms facing penalties of up to $49.5 million AUD (C$47.2 million).
Brazil enacted a similar rule earlier this month, requiring minors to link their social media accounts to their parents and banning youth from infinite scroll.
On Friday, Austria announced it would enact a ban this summer for youth 14 and under, while Denmark said its ban would only apply to those under the age of 15.
France’s bill restricting 15s-and-under from social media is currently winding its way through their legislature, while Greece, Malaysia and Poland plan similar bans of their own.
The Mark Carney Liberals are musing similar legislation for Canada.
Number of kids using social media rising
Just over 60% of Canadians — and a little over half of parents with kids aged 16 or 17 years old — believe teens aren’t capable of using social media responsibly.
That sentiment is highest amongst households with children between 10 and 12 years old.
Seventy-four per cent of those polled say they have children between 10 and 17 who use social media — roughly half of those with kids ages 10 to 12 say their kids use social media, a number that grows steadily as ages increase.
Eighty nine per cent of parents of kids 16 or 17 years old say their children use social media.
Around half say they put restrictions on certain apps, with about the same number saying they monitor their kids’ activity online, require approval before downloading apps, or impose time limits on social media use.
Around 18% say they ban phones from bedrooms at night, while 19% say they impose no restrictions on their kids’ social media use.
As for which platforms are of the most concern, TikTok, X and Snapchat ranked highest among those polled.
Less than half of respondents supported banning children from YouTube.
The poll was conducted March 11-17 among a randomized sample of 4,005 Canadian adults via the Angus Reid Forum.
While margins-of-error don’t apply to online panels, an equivalent sample size would yield a margin of ±1.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.