Seventy per cent of poll respondents support social media restrictions for people under 16
And that goes for AI chatbots, too
The results of a new poll suggest that many Canadians are in favour of restricting social media access as well as the use of AI chatbots for children under 16.
As reported by the Canadian Press, seventy per cent of respondents to a recent Leger poll said they support social media restrictions for young people. Sixty-nine per cent said they support restricting their use of AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT.
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“Concern from Canadians is pretty high,” said Leger’s executive vice-president for Central Canada, Andrew Enns.
Over 80 per cent of respondents said they feel concerned about negative consequences that social media and AI chatbots could have on kids and teenagers.
Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra recently told reporters that the province is considering a total ban on cellphones in schools, in addition to restricting children’s social media use.
“We are going to be working closely with the federal government with respect to a broader social media ban, frankly, for kids under a certain age. I know the federal government is interested in that,” he said.
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
