Australia, France, other European countries, and now Latvia. Alongside the European Union's (EU) plans to limit children's use of social networks, the Latvian Ministry of Health plans to do the same.
It wants to establish an age limit for using social networks and regulate their use so that children do not encounter harmful content online. How this will be done in collaboration with the platforms is still unclear.
"Social networks indeed have a very, very serious impact on the mental health of children and youth. Currently, we are seeing an increase in calls to our hotline for children and adolescents regarding self-harm and suicidal thoughts. We are receiving such calls almost every day, which indicates that this is a pressing issue. In many conversations, we hear about high anxiety, high levels of stress, and depression, which are also a consequence of the aggressive algorithms used by social networks," said Ako Karlis Cekulis, director of the Child Welfare Support Department at the Child Protection Center.
Algorithms can be avoided, but this requires both willingness and special knowledge. Most children lack both. At the EU level, there is a plan to limit addictive features. One of them is autoplay.
"As for the safety of children online, the situation is very alarming. One in six children is bullied online. One in eight children bullies another online. Social networks have a very engaging design. Endless scrolling fuels this addiction. Short videos affect attention span," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her speech a month ago. She announced an age verification app that will soon be available across Europe.
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