The Prime Minister, François Legault, expressed great concern on Saturday about the impacts of social networks on the mental health of young people.
“The way social media works is to make readers addicted. So, it’s a bit like they were “pushers” virtual, like drugs, like substances, and it’s worrying. It scares me, it creates significant mental health problems among young people,” said the head of the Coalition Avenir Québec.
Mr. Legault had just arrived at his party’s general council, meeting in Saint-Hyacinthe to discuss, precisely, the impacts of social networks on young people and artificial intelligence.
The Prime Minister said from the outset that he was “open” to the possibility of establishing a digital majority in Quebec. “We are going to have debates: there are pros, there are cons. When we are there – if we make that decision – we will actually look at how we can do this legally,” he said. “I am open to taking important actions for social networks,” he added.
However, he rejected this idea at the beginning of May. “Did I just hear the leader of the Parti Québécois tell us: “we should ban social media for children under 14?” Is that what he just said? Did I hear that correctly? Is that his suggestion? », asked Mr. Legault at the Salon bleu. The leader of the PQ, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, had just recalled that France requires, to open an account on social networks, the authorization of parents of children under 15 years old. “In Florida, social networks are prohibited for those under 14,” he also pointed out.
In plenary on Saturday, activists finally adopted a diluted version of a proposal from the CAQ’s Commission de la succession, which initially aimed to establish a “numerical majority at 16 years of age for opening an account on social networks”. The activists ultimately agreed to “ask the government to study in a parliamentary committee the establishment of a numerical majority for minors at an age to be determined for opening an account on social networks “.
A recent survey conducted by the Léger firm on behalf of the media The Aces of Info revealed that a quarter of eight-year-old children in Quebec have at least one account on a social network, such as YouTube, Snapchat or TikTok. After the age of 12, this proportion reaches 84%.