At this moment in time, the National Student Council of Luxembourg (CNEL) and the National Youth Council (CGJL) do not have an official position on banning social media for under-16s. But naturally, young people in Luxembourg have formed strong opinions on the topic, which they hope to articulate in a nuanced manner with a view to including their voices in the debate.
The National Youth Council, which operates as the umbrella organisation for the country’s youth associations, views a generalised age restriction to use social media with scepticism.
President Liam Bremer said a ban would not do justice to the complex issues generated by social media and was a disproportionate response. Despite the problems, social media platforms had some benefits and offered young people somewhere to exchange views and interact with one another.
National Student Council CNEL is somewhat less reticent regarding an age ban, but president Luca Röttgers emphasised that there needs to be more education and awareness regarding social media. Children need to learn how to use it and how to recognise misinformation, so they are better prepared for the dangers of the online world.
Should social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, Youtube, and so on be banned for young people under a certain age? The topic has come under heavy discussion in politics and society in Europe since Australia announced the world’s first ban for under-16s, which came into effect at the end of last year.
The risks of using the internet for children and teenagers are greatly documented, covering addiction, misinformation, manipulated content, cyber-bullying, and pornography, to name but a few. In Luxembourg, youth representatives can understand the reasoning behind introducing such a ban. There are clear risks for health, wellbeing, and mental health of young people due to digital platforms. However, both the CNEL and CGJL say age restrictions alone are not sufficient.
Politics should put pressure on corporations once and for all to implement stricter measures to apply proper age verification, says the CNEL president. The platforms should be “held accountable for what they put into the world”, adds Luca Roettgers. In his opinion, Luxembourg could take the first step in Europe here as well.
In the eyes of Liam Bremer, the Digital Services Act at the EU level already provides a whole range of tools to regulate platforms more strictly and could ban various questionable algorithms. They just need to be implemented consistently and in a differentiated manner.
