It is understandable that this debate is currently being conducted so vigorously. Young people are spending more and more time on Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok and WhatsApp. The use of social media can affect their physical, mental and social well-being. But that influence is not the same for all young people.

Argument for a minimum age in the Netherlands

Nevertheless, there is sufficient reason to take far-reaching measures, says D66 Member of Parliament Hanneke van der Werf. “Vulnerable children’s brains are not equipped to withstand the addictive effects of social media,” she argues. “That is why we want a minimum age of 15 for addictive social media. In any case, this postpones the adverse effects of social media until after a vulnerable period in which they are not resilient to them.”

“Look at what the problem is”

The desire to protect children is, of course, entirely understandable. Nevertheless, it is important to point out that within the network and the scientific community, a ban is not necessarily seen as a cure-all solution. Simone van der Hof, professor at Leiden University and a member of the Scientific Council of Netwerk Mediawijsheid, explains, for example, that enforcing existing rules is much more meaningful. “Banning social media solves nothing. Look at what the problem is and solve that,” Van der Hof explains. “The problem is the design of these services. It is not healthy for us and leads to obsessive use.”

“I think it is clear,” Van der Hof continues. “Under existing legislation, you are not allowed to profile children for commercial purposes. No personalised advertisements, but also no personalised feeds with an endless scroll where you have no control over what you get to see. As far as I am concerned, those should simply be removed for children. They only contribute to the platforms’ revenue model.”

“Beware of hasty decisions”

Jeroen Jansz, chair of the Scientific Council, also sees little benefit in a ban for those under 15. “However praiseworthy the political commitment to better protect children may be, this is not the best route and may even have the opposite effect. The temptation to make such a decision is naturally great, especially in view of the negative stories from people with personal experience that are circulating. But beware of making these kinds of decisions hastily. Research and the experiences of experts do not support the idea that this is the solution.”

Vulnerable young people

Wouter van den Bos, affiliated with the University of Amsterdam, points out, among other things, that vulnerable young people from marginalised groups derive many benefits from using social media, and that adolescence is an important and educational period in one’s life. “This is also evident from the recent figures from the Children’s Ombudsman, which showed that children who did not identify as either a boy or a girl gave their online lives a higher rating than their offline lives. (…) Or take the recent report by the Verwey-Jonker Institute, which showed that social media can also help children who are lonely.”

Patti Valkenburg, also affiliated with the University of Amsterdam, likewise emphasises the enforcement of existing rules. “Social media are already prohibited for children under 13. But the point is that the tech companies do not comply with this, and there is no one monitoring it. Enforcement is failing. So why would an age limit work?”

This is how Netwerk Mediawijsheid is working towards a sustainable solution

A sustainable solution is needed to address the problems that young people, as well as adults, experience with social media. And as the responses from the network and the scientific community show, there is no single measure that solves everything.

Netwerk Mediawijsheid therefore advocates a coherent set of measures. These include:

  • Addressing social media platforms and the toxic way in which their algorithms work.
  • Addressing creators, such as certain influencers, who offer harmful content.
  • Protecting children from harmful content. For example, by prohibiting access and providing information about the content in advance, as Kijkwijzer does.
  • Actively building children’s resilience from an early age. They need to learn how to deal with the risks of being online. Education and parenting play a crucial role in this.
  • Addressing harmful social norms and peer pressure in children’s environments.
  • Implementing existing EU legislation.

To make this possible, as a network we bring together all the perspectives needed to address this complex problem. We do this in expert groups, sub-networks and through the Scientific Council.

In this way, we are working to gain as clear an understanding as possible of the problem and the overall solution, partly based on experiences abroad. This includes both a short-term and a long-term approach. Because it is 100% clear that things are currently not going well for our young people.