Majority of parents and youths prefer tiered access to social media over outright ban: MDDI

Excessive use of social media ranked among the top concerns raised by more than 2,000 parents and youths in an engagement by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information.

A girl poses holding her phone (File photo: REUTERS/Hollie Adams)

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SINGAPORE: About 80 per cent of parents and nearly 70 per cent of youths support tiered access to social media over an outright ban, according to findings from the Ministry of Digital Development and Information’s (MDDI) engagement with over 2,000 parents and youths.

The ministry said the findings reinforce the government’s proposed approach of age-appropriate access, alongside platform adjustments to let young people benefit from technology with stronger protections.

It intends to introduce legislation next year focused on age assurance and safer design of social media for teenagers.

Under the approach, platforms would have to put in place effective age assurance measures for young users and make their services safer by design , the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less This includes restrictions on inappropriate content, unwanted contact and features such as autoplay and daily time limits. The findings come as more countries have enforced social media bans for children. Indonesia was the first country in Southeast Asia to restrict children under 16 from using social media in March this year. Malaysia soon followed in June, enforcing rules barring children under 16 from having social media accounts. "FORBIDDEN FRUIT" EFFECT The findings come from MDDI's engagements with parents and youths between June and August 2026 on young people's social media use, online risks and a tiered approach to social media access. The engagements comprised focus group discussions, school dialogues and a survey on CrowdTaskSG. Community partners including TOUCH Community Services, Fei Yue Community Services, YouthTechSG and Singapore Children’s Society also provided perspectives. Neither parents nor youths favoured an outright ban on social media for children, the ministry said. Both groups felt education, digital literacy and graduated access would be “more sustainable” than blanket restrictions. Parents felt children should be introduced to online platforms gradually so they learn to navigate social media in a safer environment. Some youths said overly restrictive measures risk a “forbidden fruit” effect, which makes social media more appealing. Both groups felt children aged zero to six should have no access, while those aged seven to 15 should have age-appropriate access. Youths generally supported greater access to social media from age 16, seeing young people as more mature and better able to manage their use independently, while parents continued to support age-appropriate access.

This includes restrictions on inappropriate content, unwanted contact and features such as autoplay and daily time limits.

The findings come as more countries have enforced social media bans for children.

Indonesia was the first country in Southeast Asia to restrict children under 16 from using social media in March this year. Malaysia soon followed in June, enforcing rules barring children under 16 from having social media accounts.

"FORBIDDEN FRUIT" EFFECT

The findings come from MDDI's engagements with parents and youths between June and August 2026 on young people's social media use, online risks and a tiered approach to social media access.

The engagements comprised focus group discussions, school dialogues and a survey on CrowdTaskSG. Community partners including TOUCH Community Services, Fei Yue Community Services, YouthTechSG and Singapore Children’s Society also provided perspectives.

Neither parents nor youths favoured an outright ban on social media for children, the ministry said. Both groups felt education, digital literacy and graduated access would be “more sustainable” than blanket restrictions.

Parents felt children should be introduced to online platforms gradually so they learn to navigate social media in a safer environment. Some youths said overly restrictive measures risk a “forbidden fruit” effect, which makes social media more appealing.

Both groups felt children aged zero to six should have no access, while those aged seven to 15 should have age-appropriate access. Youths generally supported greater access to social media from age 16, seeing young people as more mature and better able to manage their use independently, while parents continued to support age-appropriate access.

MDDI said some parents and youths also expressed caution against relying solely on age to gauge maturity.

Close to 80 per cent of parents agreed that age verification or age estimation should be implemented. Verification relies on a verified source of identity documentation and is seen as more reliable and easier to enforce, while estimation uses artificial intelligence and facial age analysis to determine a user’s likely age.

At the same time, parents also emphasised the importance of safeguarding privacy and not collecting excessive personal data.

EXCESSIVE USE A TOP CONCERN

Both parents and youths ranked excessive use of social media among their top concerns. About 84 per cent of parents ranked exposure to inappropriate content among their top concerns, a concern that ranked lower among youths.

Both groups also raised concerns that features such as autoplay, infinite scrolling and targeted feeds encourage compulsive use, MDDI said.

Parents generally supported daily screen-time limits but preferred the flexibility to adjust them to their children’s needs. The top three proposed default safeguards were disabling autoplay, disabling direct messaging and implementing a daily screen-time limit.

Youths were concerned that fixed and rigid limits could restrict legitimate uses such as schoolwork and extracurricular activities. While there was broad support for disabling algorithmic feeds, some saw value in their ability to surface educational content.

“In general, many parents expressed desire to retain some agency and flexibility over how safeguards were implemented, particularly where measures such as autoplay and daily time limits might need to be tailored to their children's developmental needs, maturity levels and family circumstances,” MDDI said.

HEALTHY DIGITAL HABITS FROM YOUNG

IMDA is also partnering with government-supported preschools on lessons about digital habits , built around four key actions: setting boundaries online, thinking before acting, reporting inappropriate content, and parental engagement and support.

The curriculum was first piloted with more than 100 Kindergarten 2 students from E-Bridge preschool. It will be rolled out across all E-Bridge preschool centres from December, reaching close to 3,000 Kindergarten 1 and 2 students across 30 centres.

Skool4Kidz preschool also delivered the curriculum to 800 Kindergarten 2 children across 35 of its centres in September. IMDA said it will continue to engage the Early Childhood Development Agency and reach out to more preschool operators next year.

Parents and families can also access digital parenting resources on the Digital for Life portal, it said.

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在数字发展和信息部开展的一项活动中，2000多名家长和青少年反映，过度使用社交媒体是他们最关心的问题之一。

一名女孩手持手机摆姿势拍照（资料照片：路透社/Hollie Adams）

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

新加坡：据新加坡数字发展及新闻部 (MDDI) 对 2000 多名家长和青少年进行的调查结果显示，约 80% 的家长和近 70% 的青少年支持对社交媒体实行分级访问，而不是彻底禁止。

该部表示，调查结果强化了政府提出的根据年龄提供适当访问权限的方案，同时调整平台，让年轻人能够受益于具有更强保护措施的技术。

它计划明年推出立法，重点关注年龄保障和更安全的青少年社交媒体设计。

新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）表示，根据这一方案，平台必须为年轻用户制定有效的年龄保证措施，并通过设计使服务更加安全。

CNA游戏猜词游戏：逐行破解单词；流行词游戏：用给定的字母组成单词；迷你数独：小巧的谜题，强大的脑力挑战；迷你填字游戏：小网格，大挑战；单词搜索：尽可能多地找出单词。显示更多 显示更少 这包括对不当内容、不必要的联系以及自动播放和每日时间限制等功能的限制。随着越来越多的国家对儿童实施社交媒体禁令，这些发现也随之而来。今年3月，印度尼西亚成为东南亚第一个限制16岁以下儿童使用社交媒体的国家。马来西亚紧随其后，于6月实施了禁止16岁以下儿童拥有社交媒体账户的规定。“禁果效应” 这些发现来自MDDI在2026年6月至8月期间与家长和青少年就青少年社交媒体使用、网络风险以及分级社交媒体访问方法进行的交流。交流活动包括焦点小组讨论、学校对话以及在CrowdTaskSG上进行的调查。包括TOUCH社区服务中心、飞跃社区服务中心、YouthTechSG和新加坡儿童会在内的社区合作伙伴也提供了各自的观点。教育部表示，家长和青少年都不赞成彻底禁止儿童使用社交媒体。双方都认为，教育、数字素养和循序渐进的访问权限比一刀切的限制“更可持续”。家长认为应该逐步引导儿童接触网络平台，让他们在更安全的环境中学习如何使用社交媒体。一些青少年表示，过于严格的限制措施可能会产生“禁果效应”，反而会让他们觉得社交媒体更有吸引力。双方都认为0至6岁的儿童不应该接触社交媒体，而7至15岁的儿童应该获得与其年龄相符的访问权限。青少年普遍支持从16岁开始给予儿童更大的社交媒体访问权限，认为年轻人更加成熟，更有能力独立管理自己的使用，而家长则继续支持给予与其年龄相符的访问权限。

这包括对不当内容、不必要的联系以及自动播放和每日时间限制等功能的限制。

这项研究结果出炉之际，越来越多的国家开始对儿童实施社交媒体禁令。

今年3月，印度尼西亚成为东南亚第一个限制16岁以下儿童使用社交媒体的国家。马来西亚紧随其后，于6月实施了禁止16岁以下儿童拥有社交媒体账户的规定。

“禁果”效应

这些发现来自 MDDI 在 2026 年 6 月至 8 月期间与家长和青少年就青少年社交媒体使用、网络风险以及社交媒体访问分级方法进行的交流。

此次活动包括焦点小组讨论、学校对话以及在 CrowdTaskSG 平台上进行的问卷调查。包括 TOUCH 社区服务中心、飞跃社区服务中心、YouthTechSG 和新加坡儿童会在内的社区合作伙伴也提供了他们的观点。

教育部表示，家长和青少年都不赞成彻底禁止儿童使用社交媒体。双方都认为，相比一刀切的限制，教育、数字素养和循序渐进的访问权限“更具可持续性”。

家长们认为应该循序渐进地引导孩子接触网络平台，让他们在更安全的环境下学习如何使用社交媒体。一些青少年则表示，过于严格的限制措施可能会产生“禁果效应”，反而会让他们更加沉迷于社交媒体。

两组受访者都认为0至6岁的儿童不应接触社交媒体，而7至15岁的青少年则应获得与其年龄相符的访问权限。青少年普遍支持16岁以后拥有更大的社交媒体访问权限，认为年轻人更加成熟，更有能力独立管理自己的使用情况；而家长则继续支持根据孩子的年龄提供相应的访问权限。

MDDI表示，一些家长和青少年也对仅仅依靠年龄来衡量成熟度表示谨慎。

近80%的家长同意实施年龄验证或年龄估算。年龄验证依赖于经过核实的身份证明文件，被认为更可靠且更易于执行；而年龄估算则利用人工智能和面部年龄分析来判断用户的可能年龄。

与此同时，家长们也强调了保护隐私和不要收集过多个人数据的重要性。

过度使用是首要关注的问题

家长和青少年都将过度使用社交媒体列为他们最担忧的问题之一。约84%的家长将接触不当内容列为他们最担忧的问题之一，而青少年对此的担忧程度则较低。

MDDI表示，这两个组织还提出了担忧，认为自动播放、无限滚动和定向推送等功能会助长强迫性使用。

家长普遍支持限制每日屏幕使用时间，但更倾向于根据孩子的需求灵活调整。最常被提出的三项默认安全措施是：禁用自动播放、禁用即时通讯以及设定每日屏幕使用时间限制。

青少年担心固定且僵化的限制会阻碍诸如学业和课外活动等正当用途。虽然禁用算法推送功能得到了广泛支持，但也有人认为它们在推送教育内容方面具有价值。

MDDI表示：“总的来说，许多家长表示希望在安全措施的实施方面保留一定的自主权和灵活性，尤其是在自动播放和每日时间限制等措施可能需要根据孩子的发育需求、成熟程度和家庭情况进行调整的情况下。”

从小养成健康的数字习惯

新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局 (IMDA) 还与政府支持的幼儿园合作，开展有关数字习惯的课程，课程围绕四个关键行动展开：设定在线界限、三思而后行、举报不当内容以及家长参与和支持。

该课程首先在E-Bridge幼儿园的100多名二年级学生中进行试点。从12月起，该课程将在E-Bridge幼儿园的所有中心推广，覆盖30个中心的近3000名一年级和二年级学生。

Skool4Kidz幼儿园9月份也在其35个中心为800名二年级儿童提供了课程。新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局（IMDA）表示，明年将继续与幼儿发展局合作，并联系更多幼儿园经营者。

声明还指出，家长和家庭还可以通过“数字生活”门户网站获取数字育儿资源。

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