No social media accounts until old enough.
Vice President Sara Duterte is pushing for the passage of a law forcing social media platforms to block minors from having accounts in the wake of the Ateneo school shooting in Zamboanga.
According to Duterte, the government should put the responsibility on tech giants rather than try to police millions of individual children.
“Ang pagba-ban kasi dapat nandito sa side ng provider,” she said in a media interview on Wednesday after visting some students injured in the school shooting in Zamboanga.
“Kung gagawa tayo ng batas, dapat ipagbawal natin dun sa mga platforms na mag-register yung mga minors doon sa kanila,” he said.
With an 25 to 29 million students in the country, Duterte admitted that enforcing an individual ban would be difficult to enforce. Instead, the social media platforms must be required to restrict kids’ access.
“You have to remember we have about 25 to 29 million students in schools so dapat kung pag-usapan natin o ipasa atin ang batas ipagbawal ang minors sa social media, doon ang regulation ng government ay doon sa platform,” she said.
“Example lang, pinag-uusapan natin yung Facebook. Dapat yung Facebook mismo hindi nila pinapapasok ang mga minor de edad,” she said.
The proposed restrictions on kids’ social media access proposal comes amid growing concerns over school violence and the possible influence of online content on young people.
Meantime, the Vice Presidnet pushed for stronger school safety measures, from anti-bullying to psychosocial support, for students. She said there should also be close monitoring of both students and school personnel.
