{
  "id": 11754312,
  "title": "‘Social media restrictions needed to protect children’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/03/social-media-restrictions-needed-to-protect-children",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-03T19:05:58.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SABC News",
    "slug": "sabc-news",
    "url": "https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/social-media-restrictions-needed-to-protect-children/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "North West University Speech Language Therapist, Linique Hanekom, argues that restricting children's access to social media is necessary to safeguard them from harmful content. She opposes the notion that banning social media for children under 16 is the solution, a view echoed by the South African government. Communications Minister Solly Malatsi has previously stated that the government has no plans to implement such a ban. Hanekom suggests that alternative measures may prove more effective. \"Children have only a limited amount of time in a day,\" she explains. \"If an hour is spent scrolling through social media, that hour is gone, spent not talking to a parent, playing outside, engaging in imaginative play, reading a book, or interacting with other children. We know that development occurs during these experiences.\"",
  "summary": "NW University's Linique Hanekom says restrictions are needed to guard children from harmful content.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}