The global trend of restricting the use of smartphones by children or limiting their access to social media is gathering momentum. Australia’s
groundbreaking ban on children under 16 registering with popular platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, begins on Wednesday. The move, requiring the closing of more than a million accounts, sets a potential precedent and its implementation will be closely watched around the world.
Some countries, such as New Zealand and Malaysia, are already planning similar measures. Britain requires tech giants and social media platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful content.
Other nations are targeting mobile phone use in the classroom. Singapore
prohibits the devices in primary schools and will extend the ban, which even applies to breaks and activities, to secondary schools next year. South Korea will ban phones in primary and middle schools in 2026. France, Finland and mainland China have also imposed restrictions.
Governments are waking up to the threat posed to children’s welfare by their daily use of digital devices. The problems are well-known, including cyberbullying, misinformation, grooming for sexual offences and the lowering of self-esteem. This can lead to self-harm, depression or, in extreme cases, suicide. Too much screen time has also been linked to myopia, lack of concentration, loss of sleep and insufficient exercise. It can inhibit a child’s development.
However, Australia’s ban is controversial. The legislation faces a legal challenge and doubts about how effective it will be.
Like most parts of the world, Hong Kong is also concerned about the negative impact of mobile phone use by the young. There has been a surge in the time the city’s youth
spend on their screens in recent years. The government is not proposing new legislation. It is right to view an outright ban on phone use by teenagers as unworkable, but Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced a review of guidelines for screen time in his September policy address. That is a sensible step. They were last updated in 2018, and the technology has advanced since then.
