Singapore to legislate stronger safeguards, possible daily time limit for teens on social media
Platforms that do not comply may have their minimum access age raised to 18, says Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo.
Singapore plans to introduce legislation in early 2023 that would require social media platforms to enforce stronger safeguards for teenagers, potentially including a daily time limit on usage, said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo. If a platform refuses or fails to implement these safeguards, Singapore may raise the minimum age requirement for accessing the platform to 18, Mrs Teo told journalists on August 28.
The government is concerned about protecting teen users from "stranger danger" and potential risks associated with direct messages from unknown individuals. Algorithmic feeds, autoplay, and infinite scroll are also areas of concern, with discussions focusing on introducing a natural stop point for infinite scroll. Singapore's current code of practice covers six social media services, and the government's proposed measures are based on Meta's commitments from its US settlement, though details may differ.
Meta agreed to allow parents to disable autoplay, but continuous autoplay remains the default on its platform. Singapore aims to set autoplay off as the default, with parents able to enable it. An expert panel convened by the Ministry of Health found that one in three users aged 15-17 spends more than three hours a day on social media, and one in six users aged 10-24 show signs of problematic use.
While the daily time limit is a reminder to balance other aspects of life, Singapore will need to find the right figure that satisfies all stakeholders.
Written by urgent.news from CNA - Singapore's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
