After the announcement of the ban on the controversial social network for French civil servants, the Secretary of State for Children Charlotte Caubel is considering extending the ban to minors.
What if TikTok was banned for French children? In a tweet published on Friday March 24, the Secretary of State for Children Charlotte Caubel mentioned the government’s desire to consider blocking access to the platform for minors. This message comes as the Minister of Public Service announced to ban the use of recreational applications and in particular foreign social networks for French civil servants.
This decision follows those taken by the White Housethe European Commission, as well as Governments canadian et British.
After the tough hearing of its CEO before the US Congress, it’s France’s turn to attack the controversial social network. “Addictive algorithms, incitement to self-harm, overexposure to screens, inappropriate content, risks to personal data, cyber harassment, misinformation… there are many risks for children”, explained the Secretary of State, taking up the arguments of the senators Americans.
Negative effects
The impact of all social networks on the mental health of young people no longer needs to be proven. In 2022, the British University of Cambridge pointed out the deleterious consequences of their use on adolescents when they use them at certain key periods of their lives. The study published in the journal Nature nuanced, however, adding that using social networks could be a driver of sociability, and building social relationships with peers.
More specifically, teenage TikTok followers suffer from increased anxiety and depression, according to a study published in the’International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
A bill on the “digital majority” which has yet to be examined by the Senate already suggests restricting access to all social networks to young people under the age of 15, by conditioning their use from the age of 13 to an authorization parental. But she didn’t mention the age of 18.
