Singapore’s approach to social media safeguards for children ‘more demanding, more rigorous’ than blanket ban: Rahayu Mahzam
“We do have safeguards in place and we do not think just rushing into having a ban may necessarily be the best thing,” said Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Rahayu Mahzam.
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SINGAPORE: Singapore’s approach to social media restrictions for young children is “more demanding, more rigorous” than a blanket ban, said Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Rahayu Mahzam on Wednesday (May 6).
“We take a different approach, in that we also want something that is more effective, a more durable approach that will withstand the test of time and the test of evolution of the technology."
Mdm Rahayu was responding to a supplementary question raised in parliament by MP Vikram Nair (PAP-Sembawang), who said that the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) should take a “harder stance” and “draw a firm boundary” in social media restrictions on youths, like some countries have.
Mdm Rahayu agreed that there are some specific features and dimensions of social media platforms that affect youths, but the ministry’s approach is to target these specifics.
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“Our approach has always been one that is outcomes-driven, and we have been building progressively on this.”
Singapore has introduced several age-related restrictions to social media use, she said. This includes a Code of Practice for Online Safety for social media services, age assurance requirements for apps, and the annual reporting obligations that social media platforms must submit to the ministry.
“Moving forward, we are actually going to be extending the assurance measures to the designated social media services, and looking beyond the content to the design features.”
She added that Singapore’s approach is to target these design features that cause specific harms to younger users..
In contrast, a blanket ban, said Mdm Rahayu, “may not even solve the problem”.
NOT RULING OUT A BAN
Nevertheless, she added that the ministry is not ruling out such a ban and will “do whatever it takes to protect our young ones”.
She noted that the idea of a social media ban is not a globally accepted position, referencing how Australia had amended its legislation to be more targeted.
13:52 Min
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In March, the Australian government announced updates to its law banning young people from using social media platforms to target specific addictive features, such as recommender algorithms and infinite scrolls.
“We do have safeguards in place and we do not think just rushing into having a ban may necessarily be the best thing. We’re not foreclosing that as a decision, but we are studying what is more effective to achieve the desired outcome that we want.”
Mr Nair had also filed a parliamentary question on whether Singapore would consider regulating youths’ access to social media, including a possible ban.
He referred to a US jury that in March found Meta and Alphabet to be liable for creating addictive platforms that caused mental health issues for younger people.
“We are taking reference from the judgment, from the decision, and the information that we are seeing. The findings actually add to the growing body of evidence.
“We know that the harms are real and we are taking it seriously.”
In a written reply on May 5, MDDI said that it will go further to enhance safeguards for children on designated social media services.
“MDDI is carefully studying features on these services, such as direct messaging and autoplay, which can result in unwanted interactions with strangers or excessive use for children and adolescents.”
The ministry added that it is in active discussions with the designated social media services, to outline our expectations of the standards they must meet.
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