Nine in every 10 Jamaican adults believe the government should regulate minors’ use of social media, signalling overwhelming public support for tighter controls on children’s online activity.
This was revealed Tuesday during the presentation of findings from a national survey on social media use and the protection of children, commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.
Data show that 90 per cent of adults across different generational strata support government regulation of minors’ social media use, while only 2.9 per cent opposed.
The findings come amid noted reports about cyberbullying, online predators, harmful content and extended hours being spent online.
Principal investigator for the study, Dr. Stephen Johnson, explained that while most people called for action, it was not indicative of the push for a social media ban for minors.
“Ninety per cent of Jamaicans indicated support for regulation and this does not mean they are supporting an outright ban, just to clarify. We’re still not clear. As minister said, we need national consultation to get a better idea of the path forward. We also asked them, from your knowledge, within the past 12 months, have any minor in your care experienced any of the following. For the most part, even though it’s 16 per cent, persons would have indicated exposure to violent or disturbing content and exposure to sexual content and sleep loss or anxiety. And of course, harmful misinformation or dangerous online [content]…and unwanted sexual messages or attempts at grooming, cyberbullying or harassment, and sharing of private images are information,” he outlined.
Responses called for a clear policy framework for minors’ social media use and the implementation of an age restriction. But concerns were also raised about the need to balance minors’ rights with restrictions.
Dr. Johnson said the perceived impact of government intervention would lead to safer online spaces.
“Roughly 90 per cent is basically saying we believe that if you have regulation, it would lead to safer online social media use among our minors. In terms of regulation [it] would help parents to better supervise minors online, similarly, and regulation would reduce minors’ exposure to harmful content. But at the same time, they are also conscious of the fact that minors would likely find ways around the restrictions – which we have evidence indicating that that has been happening in Australia, where 80 per cent of minors are still online despite an outright social media ban.”
The respondents said social media regulation would improve minors’ well-being, but they agreed that poorly designed regulation would create more harm than good.
The survey canvassed responses from 1,027 adults across all parishes and explored how social media use influences health choices and health outcomes for youth.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton emphasised that the findings are not meant to contradict the government’s push for a stronger yellow economy or to demonise social media use.
Instead, he said the findings should help to better understand the growing challenges of social media as a public health issue.
“Our objective is not to deny young people access to technology. And I anticipate that some will take that extreme position; I’ve seen some evidence of it already. Just to be clear, this is not an attempt at [restricting] our young people from use of technology because, as I have said earlier, we understand the benefits of the technology. Nor is it to discourage innovation or digital opportunity. Our objective is to ensure that technology serves our children, not the other way around,” he stressed.