\n<\/p>\n
Dr Chew Han Ei, a senior research fellow and head of Governance and Economy at IPS, agreed that when tech companies put their resources into age verification, fixing the source of online harms, such as algorithms, may end up on the back burner.<\/p>\n
Another concerning possibility is that young people may relocate to less regulated platforms, said Dr Chew, who was also the principal investigator of the IPS research on perceived severity of online harms. \u00a0<\/p>\n
An example is the closed-messaging platform Telegram, which made headlines in Singapore in 2019 for hosting an obscene chat group called SG Nasi Lemak. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be that the online harms on the regulated platforms will drop because the young people are no longer on it, but that’s what you can see \u2026 what we might not be able to see is the migration to other platforms where the online harms could be happening,\u201d he said, adding that the regulatory eye on those platforms may not be trained. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it could be a zero-sum. In society, the harms could still be happening, but it’s just that we don’t see them. That\u2019s a hypothesis.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
At the same time, experts noted that there are positive effects of social media that teens may be denied if hard rules on their social media use are implemented. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Youths use social media to connect with others and find support. \u201cBut by banning (social media), you are taking away all that, the bad and the good,\u201d said Dr Chew, adding that teenagers are at the age where they are learning digital skills.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Shubhada Jayant Bhide, Shrihaan\u2019s mother, said a blanket approach would not work as she feels that social media use among teens cannot be avoided. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they are not going to use it, their peers, their friends, are still using it. And honestly, they have seen their parents also using it. So it’s very difficult to have that complete control in place,\u201d she said. \u00a0<\/p>\n
She added that social media has its educational purposes too. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Shrihaan, for example, often uses sites like YouTube as a knowledge base, said the IT professional who is in her 40s. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s very interested in geography. So watching different travel videos, learning about different countries, their demographics, and all that. YouTube has been a very, very good source of information, especially when it comes from those authorised channels,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n