The government has not decided whether to restrict social media access for children under 16, saying it first wants to assess the effectiveness of similar measures elsewhere.
Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant said Cabinet briefly discussed the issue amid wider CARICOM consideration of harmonized legislation governing teenagers’ access to social media.
“I think what everyone is looking at is: What’s the outcome of banning social media for under-16s?” Merchant said during the post-Cabinet news briefing Thursday.
He said the government wants to examine the impact of restrictions introduced in other countries before determining whether Antigua and Barbuda should pursue similar legislation.
“What are the results of that from countries that have already implemented it?” Merchant asked. “It is a matter of seeing what the results are and then making a determination.”
Merchant also acknowledged that enforcing such restrictions could prove difficult because many young people are highly skilled at using technology and finding ways around digital controls.
“They can strip it and reconstruct it and get through it like no other individual can,” he said.
CARICOM leaders have discussed developing a coordinated legislative approach to social media access for young teenagers. However, Merchant did not indicate when Antigua and Barbuda would make a final decision or what form any restrictions could take.
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Doesn’t this just go to show that the whole of this ABLP government hasn’t got two brain cells to think for themselves.
Why not come up with some positive ideas to ban child abuse and pornographic images on social media by deviant adult males as well?
Be ground-breakers for once in your damn political lives. Sheeehs!
Australia 🇦🇺 started this social media ban for under 16s, followed closely by some European countries.
The reactionary party strikes once again…
Antiguans led by donkeys 🫏 🫏 🫏
Realistically, social media ban for children under 16 will have limited effectiveness and faces major enforcement hurdles, with data showing many teens easily bypass restrictions using workarounds. Monitoring relies on complex age-verification technology or parental oversight, both of which struggle with their tech-savvy youths.
@Brixtonian. No, this doesn’t show that the ABLP government hasn’t got two brain cells to think for themselves since many countries are following/copying exactly what the Aussies have started.
You think this little island is going to have a ground-breaking idea for solving a worldwide social media problem for youngsters? Give me a break! Perhaps you have some award winning ideas to save the kids from the perils of social media. Let’s hear them!
Parents are having difficulties banning their under 16 children from social media, much less to government. Teachers have basically stopped writing homework on the board and are sending the work to the parents or children phones. I am saying as long as children have access to phones, it will be almost impossible to ban them from social media. If this is a government ban , then government will have to police them and government is far behind technically speaking. Where this is successful the government has these things in place. China is a good example- technology extraordinary, society discipline and submissive to authority. Their culture, political systems to include dictatorship and communism is a key factor as well.
Antigua needs to do more positive things to bring our young people under control. Look at our sporting facilities. Look at ours lone track and field facility. Look at St.kitts and Grenada .
The government has enough on its plate to get in order. Accountability and integrity in public office by government ministers, civil servants and statutory bodies – need enforcement legislation. What about freedom of information, the opposition and general public cannot get pertinent information from the government. In parliament recently MP Trevor Walker during the question and answer session asked about the 1million dollars grant that was given by a gentleman to Barbuda. The answer he go showed that there is no accountability within the government system. This is a poor example for the youth.
To move forward as a nation we have to be responsible in all aspects of life. This also applies during carnival- on social media the nudeness and vulgarity will be on display for entire world to see. We will be seeing top government officials, civil servants, teachers dressed and misbehaving right on social media. Adults need to lead by example!
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