Flemish Welfare minister wants to ban social media for children
"I call for a serious debate within society and within this government about a ban on social media for children," Flemish Welfare minister Caroline Gennez said on Thursday in response to rising suicide rates among minors.
Since the COVID-19 crisis, Flemish hospitals have seen a significant increase in the number of children and adolescents who end up in emergency rooms after suicide attempts, suicidal thoughts and severe self-harm.
The number of calls to poison control centres about suicide attempts also shows an alarming trend. The number of calls about a suicide attempt among 15-year-olds stood at 413 in 2018, and rose to 543 in 2021.
Dangerous cocktail
"I'm really shocked by the numbers," said Gennez. "That even primary school children are having such dark thoughts and want to hurt themselves has to be a huge concern for all of us," she said.
"Bullies can now terrorise their victims 24 hours a day"
Social media is a major culprit for psychological well-being, according to the minister from the socialist party Vooruit. "While bullying used to be confined to schools, bullies can now terrorise their victims 24 hours a day," she said. "Add completely unrealistic beauty ideals, images of brutal violence and fake news, and you have an extremely dangerous cocktail."
Part of daily life
Cieltje Van Achter, Flemish minister for Media, told parliament last week that she was not in favour of a ban. "As I have said before, from the perspective of media literacy - but also because of what social media teaches our children - I do not support a ban on social media," she said.
"I think social media is part of the daily life of our young people," said Van Achter, who is a member of the Flemish nationalist party N-VA. "It provides connections and relationships, it's a way of communicating with their friends, and it's where they get their cultural information. It really is part of their experience.
"Social media is important for young people"
On Thursday, Van Achter referred to the Flemish coalition agreement, which provides for a study on the impact of social media on children's mental well-being. "I think it is advisable to carry out this study urgently and thoroughly. Social media is important for young people. We are fully committed to media literacy to teach our young people and children how to use social media," she said.
Disabling algorithms for minors
For its part, the Christian democratic party CD&V is calling for the development of an ethical framework to regulate the operation of algorithms when minors use social media. The party wants algorithms to be disabled for users under 18, so that they are shown a chronological timeline.
"It is not healthy that an algorithm, about which we have little information, decides what children get to see on a screen," said Flemish MP Stijn De Roo. Several social media platforms have an age limit, but they are easy to circumvent. De Roo wants to make the age limit stricter and wider so that it can no longer be evaded.
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