Dutch kids, teens in favor of age limit for social media: UNICEF

Children and teenagers in the Netherlands favor an age limit for social media. UNICEF Nederland asked over 1,000 children and young people (10 to 18 years) in the Netherlands about their experiences with social media. 69 percent said that they were in favor of a social media ban.

Based on the representative survey, UNICEF also found that over half of children and teens don’t feel sufficiently protected online. According to respondents, no platform does enough to protect them.

As many as 88 percent of the respondents use social media daily, girls more often than boys (93 percent versus 84 percent). When asked whether they favored a ban on social media, 69 percent said yes. Frequently cited reasons were that they believe social media is addictive, unsafe, and harmful, and has a negative impact on their well-being.

Children have different opinions about the age at which a ban should take effect. 28 percent think it should apply to children up to the age of 12. One respondent said that children under that age “should still be playing outside instead of on their phones.”

“This is a very clear call from children and young people themselves for better online protection,” said Suzanne Laszlo, director of UNICEF Nederland. “They are asking for measures, such as a social media ban up to a certain age, but also for more protection against endless scrolling. We must take these calls very seriously.”

Of the 31 percent who don’t want an age limit for social media, many respondents believe that it is everyone’s own responsibility. They also don’t think that an age limit would work or think it would be easy to circumvent.

According to the organization, the results are weighted based on age, gender, social class of the household, and region. UNICEF will present the results to parliament.

Another study by Motivaction showed that seven out of ten parents want Instagram and TikTok banned for children under 16. But WhatsApp should remain available, according to 80 percent of the 1,000 parents Motivaction surveyed.