London teens, parent weigh in on possible social media ban for kids under 16 | #childpredator | #kidsaftey | #childsaftey

As Ottawa prepares to introduce legislation that could ban social media for young people under age 16, some London, Ont., teens and parents say they’re skeptical it’ll strike the right balance between safety and privacy.

The federal government is expected to table a bill on Wednesday to restrict the access of young Canadians to social media platforms and bring in codified online safety standards.

Officials have been tight-lipped about what it will include, but said the legislation will “make social media services and AI chatbots safer for children.”

Keirah Buckley is a student at Beal Secondary School and regularly uses Instagram to communicate with friends. She had mixed thoughts on the proposed ban.

“I come from a generation of kids where social media was the only way of communicating during COVID and that’s how I actually made friends. I don’t know if the answer would necessarily be to ban social media altogether,” said Buckley.

Instead, Buckley wants companies to be tasked with curating algorithms where teenagers can connect with friends and watch funny videos, which she said was the initial point of social media apps. She admits that in recent years, it’s become anything but a point of connection.

“It’s become this crazy consumerist and violent place where you can see almost everything. I see people dying on my feed or other crazy stuff, so I think the issue is social media itself, and not necessarily who has access to it, because I think kids are going to fight back a lot,” she said.

Grade 9 student Lee Kucherenko, agreed. She said teens often find ways to bypass age restrictions and access these apps, and she doesn’t think a ban will prevent that.

For Sophia Xiong, the idea “sounds great in theory,” but stops kids from learning to recognize the dangers prevalent in the online world.

“I think a good way to do that would be something like YouTube Kids, and having many people regulating it as often as possible,” said Xiong, a Grade 9 student.

Last year, Australia became the first country to set a minimum age to possess an account on TikTok, YouTube and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook. Some Canadian provinces such as Manitoba have indicated plans to implement similar rules and New Brunswick saying it’s prepared to set minimum age for social media if Ottawa won’t.

A ‘digital privacy Trojan horse’ says parent

Jamieson Roberts is a father of two kids aged seven and 10. Although his kids don’t use social media yet, he has parental controls on their devices and said he’s conflicted about a potential ban.

Roberts said he’s concerned about privacy issues that can arise from age verification methods, with social media companies having access to personal information which they can sell to generate revenue.

“It sounds like a fantastic idea to regulate and not have kids on social media. But the reality is that it’s going to open up so much of the digital landscape where it’s already hard to not fork over data,” he said. “It’s the equivalent of a digital privacy Trojan Horse and these social media platforms don’t have a great record with security.”

Roberts wants the onus to be on companies to create a safe and secure environment online.

Earlier this week, the Globe and Mail reported that the bill will mitigate harms caused by the rise of AI chatbots and stand up a new digital regulator to establish safety standards. Companies that meet this criteria would be permitted to allow young Canadians back on their platforms.

‘Overwhelming’ support for ban among parents: expert

Emma Duerden, the Canada Research Chair for Neuroscience and Learning Disorders and a Western University professor, said the legislation would shift the onus of monitoring social media from parents onto the platforms themselves.

“Social media has changed. It’s now designed to keep us scrolling, so the developing brain is more vulnerable to these algorithmically generated videos and other content,” she said.

“And because of their reward systems being so active, children and youth can be more likely to want to use social media and be more likely to suffer from some of the more adverse effects, things like anxiety and depression.”

She agrees platforms often violate children’s privacy rights but Duerden believes this legislation would aim to protect that. Duerden said there has been an “overwhelmingly positive” response from parents around the world regarding social media restrictions.

“There’s too many risks at play currently in the online world,” she said. “I think a lot of parents feel they really need to have help beyond just the every day-to-day checking their teens’ phone.”