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JAY GOLDBERG: Parents must govern access to social media and artificial intelligence

Too often, governments think they are the answer to every issue affecting society.

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Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew wants his province to be the first in the nation to ban the use of social media and artificial intelligence by teenagers.

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At an NDP fundraising gala, Kinew’s fear tactics were on full display.

JAY GOLDBERG: Parents must govern access to social media and artificial intelligence Back to video

“These tools have been designed by … people who understand our psychology, who understand our biology. And they have designed these tools and optimized them to hack our children’s reward system in their brain,” said Kinew.

“These are forces that contribute to anxiety and depression,” Kinew added. “These are forces that lead to young women being trafficked.”

While Kinew has yet to lay out the details, he has said Manitoba will pursue a social media ban for youth in line with Australia, which imposed its youth social media ban in December, as well as limit access to artificial intelligence.

The federal government has also mused about banning social media access for youth. After Liberal delegates endorsed the idea at a party convention in early April, Culture Minister Marc Miller said the government would take the issue “very seriously.”

But is a social media and artificial intelligence ban for youth really the answer to today’s problems?

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Too often, government thinks it’s the answer to every issue affecting society.

Yet the real focus here ought to be active parenting.

Parents have a range of tools available to limit and regulate their kids’ use of social media and artificial intelligence.

Parents can set screen time limits, review account settings and make decisions for their kids based on their age and maturity level.

Focusing on active parenting ensures that kids can have access to tools like social media and artificial intelligence in a responsible way, ensuring that they are prepared for their lives ahead.

By banning access to social media or artificial intelligence until the age of 16, for example, government isn’t preparing youth for life in the digital age as adults. What this does instead is delay the inevitable, while setting aside crucial tools and parental guidance that could help them navigate it.

Beyond the fact that social media and artificial intelligence tool bans delay the inevitable and take away the role of active parenting, evidence from Australia shows these bans don’t work.

Early data suggests that as many as 20% of Australian teenagers are still accessing social media apps by using VPNs or other censorship-resistant technologies. Those numbers are only likely to rise with time, as the ban itself has only been in place for a few months and as youth continue to find ways to circumvent the system.

Social media can also play a crucial role in helping kids in terms of developing their social lives.

Because of Australia’s law, five million social media accounts were deactivated. That means millions of kids were cut off from friend networks, group chats, hobby communities and social circles that were built organically over the span of years.

And many of those kids were using social media in a responsible way, with parental involvement ensuring that their access was limited and aimed at positive and productive purposes.

Artificial intelligence is also a crucial learning tool that youth will need to master to gain the skills of tomorrow. Banning access not only delays inevitable development but also puts youth behind the curve when it comes to learning technology that is becoming increasingly crucial in today’s job market.

Then there’s the issue of legal challenges. Australia’s new law is already facing a challenge in the country’s High Court. Given Canada’s history of charter litigation, there’s little doubt that any law passed by the government of Manitoba or the feds would be challenged similarly.

Finally, it’s important to ask a fundamental question: Is there even adequate evidence to suggest that blanket bans will improve youth mental health, as Kinew appears to suggest?

JMIR Mental Health found insufficient evidence to support blanket bans after conducting a comprehensive study. Do we really want government to start banning access to crucial tools without solid evidence to back up its actions?

Manitobans and all Canadians should reject government scare tactics. Should parents have a say over how much their kids use social media and artificial intelligence? Absolutely. But a blanket ban from a heavy-handed government is absolutely not the way to go.

Jay Goldberg is the Canadian affairs manager at the Consumer Choice Center

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