Gov’t launches national consultation on social media risks facing children

The government has launched a national consultation involving a range of stakeholders to develop a framework to address the harmful impact of social media addiction on children.

The consultations are being coordinated by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, with the first session held on Tuesday at the World Trade Centre in Kingston, Georgetown.

The national consultation aligns with President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s commitment to protect children in an increasingly digital world.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, who led Tuesday’s consultation, described it as the launch of a national conversation.

Minister Teixeira outlined several areas of concern driving the consultation. They include mental health concerns, the impact on children’s cognitive development, impaired interpersonal skills, cyberbullying and harassment, online exploitation, exposure to harmful content and the addictive features of the platform itself.

Drawing on global legislative trends, Minister Teixeira highlighted Australia’s under-16 social media restrictions, the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, and age-based restrictions introduced in France, Norway and Denmark.

 “We will look at what Brazil is doing, what the United Kingdom is doing, what Canada’s doing, what Pakistan is doing,” she said, referring to their legislative architecture. “We will look at everybody and see how they find their answers to their realities.”

For Guyana, the minister proposed a National Child Online Safety and Ethical Technology Framework built around five pillars. These are:

• A minimum social media age of 16, with limited parental consent access for children aged 13 to 15
• Mandatory age verification to be placed on platforms rather than on parents
• Child-safe platform design, including default private accounts, restricted direct messaging and limits on targeted advertising
• Digital literacy education to be embedded in the school curriculum
• Parental empowerment through national awareness campaigns and family online safety resources.

Minister Teixeira also proposed the creation of a dedicated Child Online Protection Authority to handle monitoring, compliance oversight and international cooperation.

“We will ask you, the stakeholders, to go back to your organisations, discuss these issues, and we will meet back in [three] weeks to hear now what you are proposing, what you agree to, what you don’t agree to, what you think can work in Guyana, and what you think can’t work in Guyana,” Minister Teixeira said.

The event saw attendance from several government ministers, including Attorney General Mohabir Anil Nandlall S.C., Minister of Education Sonia Parag, Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud, Minister of Amerindian Affairs Sarah Browne-Shadeek, Minister of Home Affairs, Oneidge Walrond, Minister of Labour and Manpower Planning Keoma Griffith, and Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibilty for Public Affairs Kwame McCoy.

Also participating were religious leaders and non-profit organisations.

Some 95 representatives from various organisations, including religious bodies, educators, trade unions, youths, and non-profit organisations, among others, participated.

Further consultation exercises will be held in the coming months.

DPI