Social media ban for kids in the Czech Republic?
Protecting against online bullying
For Mladá fronta dnes the proposal has its merits:
“Children today are more affected by aggressive behaviour on social media than by fights in the school corridor or attacks by other children after school. More than half of all pupils have already had traumatic experiences with online bullying. Humiliating videos and photos are circulated, children are subjected to threats and even blackmail. ... Whether Prime Minister Babiš's party finds support for its idea among other politicians depends primarily on how the proposal deals with age verification so as to avoid serious invasions of privacy.”
Babiš's paradoxical approach
Forum24 speculates on why the prime minister has now taken up this issue now:
“Andrej Babiš, who has built his political career on massive social media marketing and ridiculous videos published almost daily, has – once again – come up with a new populist idea. Following France's example, he wants to ban the use of social media by children under the age of 15. Deputy Prime Minister Karel Havlíček actively supports him in this; for him, social networks are a 'plague'. ... It is paradoxical that a politician who never takes a step without social networks and whose PR team feeds the Internet with content practically non-stop is suddenly calling for strict regulation of these platforms.”