COLUMN: Think Again – Banning social media is easier said than done

Children don’t belong on social media. Not only does excessive social media use negatively impact their mental health, but there are far more productive things kids can do with their time.

It’s far better for children to play outside, hang out with their friends, and read books than to scroll through their TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram feeds for hours on end. If I could snap my fingers and take everyone under the age of 16 off social media, I would do it in a heartbeat.

But I can’t. Nor can anyone else, not even the government.

That’s because taking kids off social media is easier said than done. For a ban to be effective, there needs to be an ironclad age verification system in place. This is problematic for two reasons.

First, any age verification beyond a simple honour system necessitates sharing potentially sensitive information with big tech companies. I’m not thrilled at the prospect of uploading a copy of my drivers’ license that Meta gets to keep on file just so I can access my Facebook account. Nor do I want to undergo a facial scan so that I can login to X.

Given how often data breaches take place, it’s not unreasonable to be concerned about the prospect of sensitive information falling into the hands of unscrupulous hackers.

In addition, there are ways around even the strictest age verification systems. This includes creating fake ID, using a VPN to make it appear like you are in a different country, or simply logging in through someone else’s account.

So, while I agree with the intent behind legislation to remove kids from social media platforms, I am yet to be convinced that the necessary tools exist to enforce it.

Australia recently implemented a nationwide ban on social media for kids. So far, there are mixed reviews as to how effective that country’s ban has really been. While many social media accounts were shut down immediately after the ban went into effect, there are plenty of reports of children in that country getting around the ban without too much difficulty.

The federal Liberal government is looking into whether a social media ban for children would work here in Canada. I’m not opposed to this idea in principle, but I need to see a sensible enforcement plan in place before I can get on board with any proposed legislation.

As for Premier Wab Kinew’s recent announcement that Manitoba would implement its own ban on social media for kids, it’s clear that he has no idea how to do this. The fact that the announcement took place at an NDP fundraising dinner rather than in the legislature tells us that his proposal was more about garnering headlines than about serious governance.

It was particularly amusing that Education Minister Tracy Schmidt later suggested that perhaps this ban could start in schools. Someone needs to let the minister know that her government already banned personal cell phones entirely from K-8 schools and from classrooms at the 9-12 level. And the last time I checked, school divisions have filters in place that prevent students from logging in to social media accounts on school-issued devices.

Add to this the fact that Manitoba is a small province that has little clout with big tech companies. If there is ever going to be a meaningful social media ban, it needs to be done nationally, not provincially.

I don’t want kids to use social media. But I also don’t want a government ban that creates more problems than it solves. If we are serious about getting kids off social media, we need to get this one right.

Michael Zwaagstra is a teacher and deputy mayor of Steinbach. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.