[Special Feature: Social Media and Society] Moe Hamada: Global and Japanese Trends Regarding Children and SNS

Discussions regarding children's use of SNS are intensifying in countries around the world. Smartphones and SNS have now become daily necessities indispensable for information gathering and communication. For children, they are not only important tools for contacting classmates and interacting with friends outside of school, but are also used for learning and creative activities. On the other hand, negative aspects have also become apparent, such as excessive dependence and exposure to harmful information that could lead to involvement in online bullying or crime. In various countries, there is a succession of movements to uniformly restrict the use of SNS based on age. I would like to consider countermeasures while looking at overseas examples.

Australia is attracting global attention for its SNS regulations. In November 2024, the "SNS Ban Law," which uniformly prohibits the use of SNS by children under 16, was enacted, and it is scheduled to take effect in December of this year. It mandates that SNS operators take measures to prevent the creation of accounts by those under 16, with fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (approximately 5 billion yen) for violations.

The background to taking the step toward regulation at the national level includes earnest appeals from the bereaved families of children who took their own lives because of SNS.

Mac Holdsworth, who lived in Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city, was 16 years old in 2022 when he was urged by an "18-year-old woman" he was communicating with on Instagram to send a nude image of himself. Afterward, he received a call from an unknown man who threatened him, saying, "If you don't pay, I'll spread the image to your friends and parents." In reality, this man had been posing as the woman to contact Mac.

Mac paid about 50,000 yen as told, but the image was spread on SNS. Although the man was arrested, Mac left a suicide note the following year saying, "I can't take it anymore. I'm sorry," and committed suicide. It is said that traces of searching for "methods of suicide" remained on YouTube. His father, Wayne, told reporters, "It is the responsibility of adults to keep children away from and protect them from an SNS filled with danger," and is eagerly awaiting the enforcement of the law.

While many SNS operators set the minimum age for users at 13, the fact that Australia's ban law restricts use for those under 16 also reflects the feelings of bereaved families.

Similarly, 15-year-old Olivia Evans, who lived in Melbourne, was bullied at school for being "fat" and fell into an eating disorder. She became obsessed with the diet information overflowing on Instagram and TikTok. No matter how many times her family warned her, she would not listen, saying, "On SNS, they say even 200 calories a day is healthy." Eventually, her physical and mental balance collapsed, and she lost her life in 2023 due to a drug overdose.

Her father, Rob, has been calling for regulation, arguing that SNS algorithms, which display information of interest to users one after another, eroded Olivia's mind. In particular, based on the fact that Olivia was 15, he insisted on usage restrictions for those under 16. He emphasized the significance of the ban law, saying, "SNS is too dangerous for developing children who are easily influenced by their surroundings. This law can delay the age at which children come into contact with SNS, even if only by a little."

Australian public opinion is divided regarding the legal regulation.

In interviews with parents, voices in favor of the regulation were raised, such as "Watching my daughter, I think SNS is addictive" and "It helps to have the backing of the state saying that SNS is bad for children." In contrast, many voices of opposition were also heard, such as "SNS is an important tool used for gathering information and communicating with friends. Banning its use will narrow children's possibilities" and "By banning it, they might start using suspicious, obscure SNS. That's even more dangerous."

The effectiveness of the SNS Ban Law is uncertain. The success or failure of the regulation depends on whether SNS operators can reliably perform age verification. From the perspective of personal information protection, the ban law prohibits SNS operators from requiring users to submit official identification.

Operators need to verify age through other methods, and the Australian government has been conducting demonstration experiments of age verification technology since January of this year. These targeted over 60 technologies from 48 operators, including analysis of biometric information such as faces and voices using AI (Artificial Intelligence), and age estimation from school enrollment information.

In a report published by the Australian government at the end of August this year, cases were confirmed where facial recognition technology and other methods misidentified the age of users. While it is left to the operators to decide which technology to adopt, the challenge of how accurately age can be verified remains unresolved.

Movements toward SNS usage regulation are also progressing in other countries.

In New Zealand, a bill to ban SNS use for those under 16 was introduced to Parliament in May of this year. In June, French President Macron indicated a policy to aim for the institutionalization of an SNS ban for those under 15 within the European Union (EU). Norway announced in October 2024 that it is considering introducing new regulations to set the starting age for SNS use at 15.

In the United States, regulatory movements are seen on a state-by-state basis. In Utah, a state law was enacted in 2024 requiring SNS operators to verify the age of users. New York State also stipulated that operators must not provide content to users under 18 using algorithms based on personal data without parental consent.

In Japan, movements to restrict the usage time of smartphones and the internet are beginning to emerge at the local government level.

Kagawa Prefecture enacted the "Ordinance on Measures Against Internet and Game Addiction" in 2020. It provided a guideline of "until 9:00 PM" for the use of smartphones and other devices by junior high school students and younger. In Toyoake City, Aichi Prefecture, an ordinance proposal was submitted to the city council in August of this year setting a guideline of "within 2 hours per day" for the use of smartphones and tablets for purposes other than work or study for all citizens. Neither has penalties and they remain as aspirational laws.

In a survey conducted in 2024 by the NTT DOCOMO Mobile Society Research Institute, the SNS usage rate among Japanese junior high school students (the percentage using at least one SNS) reached 92%. It was 63% for grades 4–6 of elementary school and 31% even for grades 1–3. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the average weekday usage time for teenagers is 1 hour 7 minutes for SNS and 1 hour 56 minutes for video-sharing services, suggesting that watching SNS and videos has become a part of children's lives.

While it is one thing to end up touching a smartphone whenever there is time, a state of watching SNS or videos around the clock cannot be called healthy. Although critical voices have been raised by citizens, such as "Is the administration intervening in family matters?", it can be said that this has raised an issue regarding the "overuse" of smartphones.

On the other hand, there is no movement at the national level to uniformly regulate children's SNS use. Since November 2024, the government has held the "Working Group on the Protection of Youth Regarding Internet Use" (WG), which includes experts. They have organized the challenges and points of contention regarding the dangers children face when using the internet and safe usage.

In a report published in August, the WG indicated a direction toward strengthening "information literacy education" to decipher the truth of information, rather than restricting SNS use uniformly by age, from the perspective that children also have the "right to know" and "freedom of expression" to access a wide range of information. This takes the form of emphasizing the balance between child protection and internet utilization, noting that online spaces such as SNS also serve as places of belonging and consultation desks for children who are bullied or not attending school.

Certainly, a uniform ban on use could result in confining children to a "sterile room." It cannot be denied that if they are suddenly thrown into the SNS space upon reaching a certain age, the children may consequently be exposed to danger. However, the current situation of SNS surrounding children is difficult to overlook.

According to the National Police Agency, last year, 1,486 children under the age of 18 were involved in crimes through SNS or online games. There were 715 junior high school students, 582 high school students, and 136 elementary school students. By category, "serious crimes" such as non-consensual indecency and kidnapping were the most frequent, followed by "child pornography" and "violations of youth protection ordinances." The SNS that served as the catalyst were Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok, in that order.

More than 70% of the SNS posts that led to children and perpetrators getting to know each other were made by the children. The content of the posts was not directly related to crime, such as hobbies, daily life, or looking for friends, but cases are prominent where they subsequently shared personal information while becoming close through consultations about worries or game walkthroughs, leading to victimization. Attorney Shino Uanuma, who serves as a member of the WG and is knowledgeable about children and internet issues, says, "Adults are cautious of people they haven't actually met as 'strangers,' but children tend to perceive people they interact with on SNS or online games as 'close friends' and send personal information or images without caution."

Depending on the images or content sent, there is also a possibility that the child becomes the perpetrator. In the free LINE consultation for children conducted by the Tokyo Bar Association (Daini Tokyo Bengoshikai), there is a succession of consultations from junior and senior high school students, such as "My post was called slander" or "I forwarded child pornography; will I be caught?"

In response to this situation, the WG also discussed measures for "transmission risk" on SNS. Current measures center on "filtering" to prevent the reception of harmful information distributed from adult sites or dating sites.

However, it is clear that filtering as a reception measure alone is insufficient to prevent trouble and criminal victimization. Measures such as making it impossible for children to send inappropriate wording, images, or personal information should be publicized.

The current SNS space is also overflowing with false and misleading information, such as "deepfakes"—fake images created by generative AI. Sexual deepfakes using photos of classmates and others have become a global problem.

According to the National Police Agency, there were over 100 consultations and reports to the police regarding sexual fake images of minors in 2024. Most of the victims are junior and senior high school students, but elementary school students are also included, appealing that "nude images made with my face photo are appearing on SNS."

Movements to regulate sexual deepfake images themselves are spreading overseas, and in Japan, Tottori Prefecture amended its ordinance to prohibit the creation of sexual fake images using photos of children, with penalties. In the national WG, opinions were also raised calling for measures including legal development, but the discussion has not yet deepened, and images are overflowing on some SNS.

Recent research has also clarified the impact on mental health due to excessive use of SNS.

The National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry and others have stated that they confirmed that inappropriate use during adolescence, such as spending too much time on the internet or being unable to stop once starting, leads to mental health issues such as hallucinations, delusions, and depression.

Under these circumstances, voluntary efforts by SNS operators are progressing. One example is "content moderation," where operators monitor and delete problematic posts. LINE Yahoo deleted approximately 3.05 million (0.8%) of the roughly 400 million short videos posted to "LINE VOOM" in fiscal 2024, including those containing sexual expressions or content related to suicide.

Child protection measures have also begun. Since January of this year, Instagram has started a service called "Teen Accounts" in Japan for users aged 13–17, which automatically restricts the display of posts containing inappropriate content, such as violent expressions, sexual images, or those encouraging excessive dieting. It also attempts to prevent addiction, such as by sending a notification prompting the user to stop using the app when daily usage time exceeds one hour.

It goes without saying that SNS is a tool that opens doors to diverse information, broadens children's horizons, and brings out their potential. However, it is unacceptable for operators to prioritize profits and use methods that lead to SNS addiction. Encouraging healthy use is the responsibility of operators, and the government should proceed with policies that encourage operators' efforts. How can we ensure an environment where children can use SNS with peace of mind? Countermeasures cannot wait.