Protect children in the digital world, don't prohibit them

Straight to the point and understandably so. Social media is a big part of most teens' lives and has been for some time.

As the UN's children's charity tasked with standing up for young people's rights, we have regular and ongoing contact with children and young people, hearing their thoughts and perspectives on a range of issues which affect them - including their use of social media.

And when we recently asked young people about their online experiences, overwhelmingly they told us that the online world has a positive influence on their lives.

In fact, 81 per cent of teens told us they find social media a positive influence in their lives. They said being online has become critical to their healthy development and wellbeing, a place where they socialise, are able to express themselves, and access support.

But we also know that young people face risks online, be it from bullying or exposure to harmful content. The same survey showed 60 per cent of teens have seen violent or gory content online, and although half took action against it - like reporting it - they should not have been exposed to such content in the first place.

Young people have a right to be safe online. Which means we need to be alert to online dangers and work together to find approaches that reduce those online harms, while making sure that young people can benefit from the digital world.

Fundamentally, there needs to be a safety-by-design approach adopted by the tech industry, where safety is embedded from the start and throughout a platform's development - not as an afterthought - along with stronger regulation of the platforms by governments. We need to protect children within the digital world, not necessarily prohibit them from using it.

The debate about the age young people can access social media becomes just one part of this puzzle. While the intention of banning - or raising the age of - social media access is to protect children, doing this may take away the benefits from them being on those platforms, while still leaving harms available for them to find elsewhere online - on websites, or in messaging apps for instance.

There may also be unintended consequences if we go down the route of bans. In the face of prohibition, a teenager may seek out more covert and unregulated online spaces and communities, or access social media without their parents knowing, which may present even greater risks to their safety.

At age 16, if a young person opened social media for the first time, they would still be met with the same online dangers currently faced by children and young people - it wouldn't remove them, it just delays the problem.

The intent to protect, minimise risk and prevent harm to children online is needed and necessary. However, raising the age of social media access will not, by itself, necessarily have the benefits many are seeking.

There is no silver bullet to prevent online harms and regulating social media is a complex area. The solutions will need to be proportionate to risk, and balanced with the other rights that children have, like being able to learn, access important information, and express themselves.

We have heard what young people think about social media, it is their space and a big part of their lives, which for the most part they see as having a positive influence. We have a unique opportunity right now to transform the online world and keep young people safe - let's make sure we get it right.