Austria is the most recent nation to contemplate limiting children’s access to the internet, announcing intentions to outlaw social media for those under the age of 14. It is unclear how or when the ban will be put into effect, but it comes after protracted discussions within the three-party coalition administration run by conservatives.
Announcing the plans, Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler of the Social Democrats said the government could not stand by and watch as social media made children “addicted and also often ill”. He claimed that governments had a duty to safeguard children and that the problem should be handled similarly to alcohol or tobacco, saying, “There must be clear rules in the digital world too.”
Babler stated that youngsters under the age of 14 would be shielded from addictive algorithms in the future.Other information providers have explicit policies in place to shield minors from dangerous content. He stated that these ought to be put into practice in the digital realm.
Austria is the latest among a growing number of countries to consider restricting social media access for children, citing concerns about potentially harmful content made available to them on the platforms. In a landmark case in the US on Wednesday, a jury found two social media giants had intentionally built addictive algorithms that harmed young people’s mental health.
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