Under-18s should be banned from social media for their own benefit amid a row over online child sex abuse, a leading commentator has said.
Rich Lowry called on Congress to “press the brakes on the revolution” that has given tech titans like Mark Zuckerberg “an outsized role in raising our kids” – and said minors should “go outside” instead.
Lowry’s call for tighter regulations comes as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologised to parents of online sexual exploitation or harassment victims at a congressional hearing today.
Zuckerberg said: “I’m sorry for everything you have all been through… No one should go through the things that your families have suffered.
Rich Lowry called for a congressional crackdown on underage social media use in his New York Post column
Gage Skidmore via Flickr
“This is why we invest so much and we are going to continue doing industry-wide efforts to make sure no-one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer.”
Parents in attendance at the hearing were seen holding up photographs of their children as Zuckerberg turned to face the crowd to offer apologies.
Lowry asked why we were “subjecting our children to a vast, real-time experiment in exposure to a radically new medium that evidence suggests is harmful to their emotional and mental health”.
He laid the blame at social media firms’ doors, and said: “This dubious venture is unquestionably a boon to the bottom line of Meta and its peer companies, but it’s doubtful that any parent in America has ever thought it was good for their kid.”LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company would make sure "no-one has to go through the things your families have"
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“Surely, it’s not too much to ask that Zuckerberg & Co. make their fortunes exclusively off adults… For social media companies, these kids are just another market”, he said in his New York Post column.
“Let’s say the research and everyone’s intuition is wrong, and social media isn’t driving worse outcomes for kids.
“What’s the harm in staying off social media until they’re older? That kids will miss out on the latest absurd and perhaps dangerous TikTok trend?
“That they won’t get to envy people posting photos on Instagram to make themselves look more interesting and beautiful than they really are?”
“That they will talk to their families and friends more and engage in more activities in the real world?”
He said the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act effectively prohibits under-13s from using social media but called on tech firms to require their users to “be age 18 or older”.
Lowry isn’t the only one to call out kids’ use of social media today; top US psychiatrist Dr Daniel Bober told GB News parents should take more action to get a handle on their children’s online behaviour.
Dr Bober said: “I think parents have to be on top of their kids like they never were before. I think they really have to be on top of the social media.
“It's very difficult, I used to say to parents keep the computer in a room in a common area where you can see what they're doing, but now they go to school, they have smartphones.
“I think the best tact to take if you're a parent is to keep an open line of communication without judgement, without shame, and allow your kids to come to you with anything and check in with them and make sure that you're on top of what they're doing. I think that's the key.”