According to a recent report, mothers and babysitters often let children as young as one to two years old watch shows on smartphones and television. If the children are entertained, they are left unattended. As a result, children grow up skilled in using smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other devices. Even at a young age, they already have accounts on various social media platforms, behaving like adults.
Survey Reveals High Social Media Usage Among Youth
The 2024 National Information and Communications Technology Household Survey, conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, found that 66 percent of children aged 10 to 16 use social media, and 92.4 percent of them have social media accounts. This compares to 97.6 percent of those aged 17 and above.
Senator Gatchalian Files Social Media Safety Bill
In response, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has filed Senate Bill No. 2066, the Social Media Safety for Children Act, which would prohibit children under 16 from using any social media platform. The measure aims to protect them from online risks and threats.
The bill follows similar laws passed in Australia, the Social Media Minimum Age Act of 2024, and in Indonesia, the first Southeast Asian country to ban children under 16 from social media. Gatchalian noted that existing laws such as the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children Act, and the Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act are insufficient to protect children from social media dangers.
Risks Include Mental Health Issues and Academic Decline
These dangers include mental health issues and addiction, negative effects on academic performance, harmful content, online sexual exploitation and trafficking, safety and radicalization, predatory behavior, and misinformation. Studies show that social media is addictive and can cause anxiety, depression, and social isolation in children. The 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) revealed that for every hour a 15-year-old Filipino student spends on social media, their math score decreases by four points.
