Flemish Welfare Minister Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) supports stricter age restrictions on social media use.
"In real life, we find it entirely normal to set limits and impose age restrictions to protect our children and young people," said Gennez. "Why should it be any different in the digital world?"
The minister’s comments come in response to calls from various experts urging the government to implement measures to better protect children and young people from excessive screen time.
These measures include raising the age limit for social media use to 16 and implementing stricter regulations for technology companies.
Minister Gennez agrees with this perspective. "We must better safeguard our children and youngsters from the negative impacts of social media," she emphasised.
"On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, they are daily exposed to images of brutal violence, unreal beauty standards, hate speech, fake news, and misleading health advice. This poses risks to both their physical and mental well-being."
According to Gennez, the government has a critical role to play. Parents cannot constantly monitor their children’s online activities, and it is not viable to leave our children’s safety to entities like China or Elon Musk.
Flemish Minister for Welfare and Culture Caroline Gennez. Credit: Belga / Eric Lalmand
"These companies earn massive profits by addicting our children to all sorts of rubbish. They have no interest in the mental well-being of our youth," Gennez said.
For this reason, Gennez advocates for stricter regulations on tech companies. She also supports a comprehensive debate on banning social media for children, similar to initiatives in Australia and soon in the Netherlands. Enforcement is key, she says, along with strengthening age restrictions.
Although the current allowed age to open a social media account is 13, it is often bypassed, with the average user today being as young as 8 years old.
