Antigua and Barbuda Monitoring Results of Under-16 Social Media Bans

The government has not decided whether to restrict social media access for children under 16, saying it first wants to assess the effectiveness of similar measures elsewhere.

Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant said Cabinet briefly discussed the issue amid wider CARICOM consideration of harmonized legislation governing teenagers’ access to social media.

“I think what everyone is looking at is: What’s the outcome of banning social media for under-16s?” Merchant said during the post-Cabinet news briefing Thursday.

He said the government wants to examine the impact of restrictions introduced in other countries before determining whether Antigua and Barbuda should pursue similar legislation.

“What are the results of that from countries that have already implemented it?” Merchant asked. “It is a matter of seeing what the results are and then making a determination.”

Merchant also acknowledged that enforcing such restrictions could prove difficult because many young people are highly skilled at using technology and finding ways around digital controls.

“They can strip it and reconstruct it and get through it like no other individual can,” he said.

CARICOM leaders have discussed developing a coordinated legislative approach to social media access for young teenagers. However, Merchant did not indicate when Antigua and Barbuda would make a final decision or what form any restrictions could take.

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