Parliament plans to make responsible artificial intelligence (AI) and digital trust its central focus of the new legislative year that starts today (see related story), with as theme “Building Digital Trust: Responsible AI for a Stronger Democracy and Empowered Communities.” This is to include responsible use of AI, with attention to trust, transparency, accountability, privacy, cybersecurity, digital literacy and meaningful human oversight.
No specific mention was made of a related hot global topic, namely limiting the use of social media by youngsters in general and access to electronic devices at school in particular. As for the latter, students at Anguilla’s Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School just returned to the classroom with a complete ban on cell- and smartphones, smart watches and other wearable communication devices, tablets and iPad, wireless earbuds and headphones, portable music players, cameras not authorised for school activity, handheld gaming devices, and any other privately owned devices capable of communication, recording, internet access gaming or entertainment.
They have access to supported laptops for academic, instructional and research purposes. In addition, landlines have been installed to facilitate student-parent communication and some exemptions are being made for documented medical needs, approved accessibility or special needs and exceptional safeguarding situations.
St. Maarten Member of Parliament (MP) Sjamira Roseburg recently stated that she doesn’t support a social media ban for kids. According to her education and digital literacy would be more effective than restrictions. She also thinks it will be extremely difficult to effectively enforce.
At that time three countries including Australia already had active bans for youths under the age of 16, while those of Greece and France -both under 15- were listed as “incoming.” The latter’s Parliament not to long ago passed a law to introduce the ban, as the first European country to do so. It will thus be interesting to see how implementation fares on the French side.
No fewer than 17 nations were preparing similar legislation, with Italy’s version targeting children of 12 or younger. That illustrates room for variation not only in terms of age, but also in other details.
In the Netherlands, last February, around six months after the previous Dutch government decided to urge parents to keep their kids off social media instead of implementing a ban, the newly sworn-in Jetten Cabinet put the option back on the table. The D66, VVD, and CDA coalition accord states that government wants “an enforceable minimum age of 15 for social media.”
It’s a matter of worldwide debate, in which either side of the argument for or against such measures both have merit.
