Federal Council wants to check the protection of young people
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Social media ban for young people and cell phone spells in schools? Federal Council is surprisingly open
Should social media such as Tikkok or Instagram be banned for children and adolescents? And should cell phones also be banished by schools? The Federal Council is surprisingly open to the claim from parliament.
Should social media such as TikTok & Co. be banned for young people? The Federal Council is open to the claim, but wants to clarify the consequences.
As the first country in the world, Australia decided last year to ban children access to social media. There are also efforts in the same direction in many countries in Europe, with Norway the most widely. But when it comes to implementation, it is a problem, not least because the technology groups keep against it.
Now the Federal Council is also open to a ban on social media for children, as can be seen from a response from parliament adopted on Wednesday. However, its goal is not a general social media ban for children and adolescents, but the ban should only protect under 16-year-olds from « excessive and harmful consumption of social media ».
According to the simultaneous answer to a second initial, the state government is also open to checking a ban on cell phones in schools. As the first community in Switzerland, Köniz introduced a cell phone spell at all school houses at the beginning of the year.
How harmful is the cell phone for children?
In parliament, the two concerns submitted the Councilors Maya Graf (Greens/BL) and Celina Vara (Greens/NE). Specifically, the Federal Council must now check a ban from Tikkok or Instagram for under 16 year olds and a mobile phone ban at schools. As Co-President of the Women's Funding Association Alliance F, Maya Graf has been fighting for hate speech on social media for a long time.
Maya Graf justifies her call for a social media ban with scientifically based signs. Specifically, that the smartphone not only affects the development of children and adolescents negatively, but also affects the mental health of less than 16-year-olds and massively reduce their ability to concentrate and learn.
In addition, Graf and Vara also see a great support for a social media ban in the population. According to a survey published by the Bern Generation House, 82 percent of Swiss people advocate a ban on cell phones at schools. Women support this with 87 percent more (men: 78 percent).
Cross -party approval
And according to the survey, a mobile phone ban is also broadly supported: 85 percent of SVP and SP are for a ban, 83 percent among the Greens. The most skeptical of GLP is with 75 percent approval. For the representative survey, the Sotomo Institute interviewed 2754 people aged 18 and over from German and French-speaking Switzerland.
« The effects of the use of social networks on mental health of young people are controversial, » the Federal Council now also writes in its answer to Maya Graf's postulate published on Wednesday. Nevertheless, the state government is « ready to analyze the situation more precisely in a report ».
As the next step, the Council of States will now have to be on the move. Only with an approval of the postulate does the Federal Council have to work out the report on a social media ban for less than 16 years of age and a mobile phone ban in schools.
