Letter of the Day | Banning social media for children is not the solution

THE EDITOR, Madam:

We are writing with reference to the recent statement by the Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton to engage discussions on banning social media access for children under 16 years of age. The question is not whether children should be protected online, but how. A blanket social media ban is a sweeping prohibition that risks undermining children's rights while failing to address the root causes of online harm. 

While protecting children online is a legitimate public policy objective, a social media ban is not the solution. 

Children face genuine risks online, including cyberbullying, online predators, harmful content, and exploitative algorithms. These concerns demand action. However, adolescent social media use is not a monolith, and complex challenges cannot be solved through one size fits all restrictions. 

Effective policy should focus on strengthening digital literacy, improving online safety protections, promoting age appropriate platform design, and holding technology companies accountable for the risks their products create.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has cautioned that social media bans can be easily circumvented with alternative devices and spam accounts that may push children into less regulated and potentially riskier online spaces. Importantly, children's rights apply online as much as they do offline. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Jamaica is a signatory, requires states to act in the best interests of children while respecting their evolving capacities. General Comment No. 25 further affirms children's rights to information, participation, privacy, and development in digital environments.

The evidence linking social media use to poor mental health outcomes also remains far from settled. While excessive or harmful online experiences can negatively affect wellbeing, researchers have yet to establish a clear causal relationship between social media use and declining adolescent mental health. Increasingly, experts advocate for harm minimisation approaches that build digital resilience and recognise the important roles of parents, schools, and young people.

Instead of excluding children from digital spaces, technology companies should be asked to implement stronger child safety standards and robust safeguards against harmful content and algorithmic amplification.

As Jamaica considers its approach, evidence and not panic should guide its policy. The goal should not be to remove children from the internet, but to create a safer internet for them. 

FI WE CHILDREN FOUNDATION
info@fiwechildren.org