Global Desk: The access to social media among children in Austria could be possibly restricted in the coming days. Following similar steps taken is Australia and France, the government in Vienna is considering a similar move for the safety of children under 14.
As reported by TASS news agency, the secretary generally of Austria’s ruling party Alexander Proll announced that the ban could be implemented from the start of the next school year.
He also said that the Austrian government will follow the example of Australia where the responsibility of the restriction was given to the social media platforms itself.
The planned move has not been embraced positively by a section of the opposition. Its far-right opposition party has expressed reservations over the issue and claimed it constrained freedom of expression. Alternatively, liberal parties like the Greens have asked for a compulsory verification of age and penalty for platforms not meeting the rules.
Recently, a number of countries including Australia and the European Union have considered similar moves. Australia has already become one of the first countries to ban social media for children.
According to studies the excess use and addition towards social media is toxic for children’s mental wellbeing. It is observed that teenagers nowadays spend around four hours a day consuming social media content, which could often lead to numerous mental health problems including lack of concentration and loneliness.
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