More digital safeguards for children are needed

Meta Platforms Inc last month reached a multibillion-dollar settlement with 52 attorneys general of US states and territories agreeing to impose daily usage limits and lockout periods for young users.

The settlement has bolstered the argument that social media addiction among children is not simply due to poor self-discipline, but also a result of mechanisms engineered by tech giants to increase engagement with their platforms.

From major US state litigation and settlements to New Zealand’s proposed minimum-age requirement for social media use, advanced democracies are treating the risks created by algorithmic recommendation systems and platform design as a systemic problem.

As a nation at the heart of the advanced technology supply chain, Taiwan must keep pace with its democratic peers in establishing regulations to protect children online.

As a teacher, I can see that the social media crisis among young people is eroding the foundations of Taiwanese democracy. Children’s brains are being hijacked by the dopamine rush of short-form content. They are losing not just the ability to concentrate in class, but also the capacity for sustained reading and logical reasoning.

Taiwan is on the front line of countering foreign cognitive warfare and disinformation. If children and adolescents lose the foundation for critical thinking and become trapped in fragmented information echo chambers, it would create a serious vulnerability in Taiwan’s democratic defenses.

Faced with the aggressive expansion of multinational social media companies, Taiwan must show determination in defending its digital sovereignty.

Such platforms enjoy enormous user bases and advertising revenue in Taiwan, all while externalizing the psychological harm and educational costs they create.

The government cannot stop at soft educational campaigns. It must establish robust digital governance mechanisms. It should require that social media platforms implement age verification systems and greater algorithmic transparency, and hold the companies liable for the safety of their young users in Taiwan.

Taiwanese institutions must also protect educators. Looking at global education trends, countries in Europe and Asia have introduced legislation restricting or banning mobile phones in primary and secondary schools. Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Teaching and Learning International Survey showed that Taiwanese teachers spend an excessive amount of time maintaining classroom order.

The Ministry of Education should develop guidelines for phone-free schools. This would give educators a clear legal basis for managing students’ devices, and ensure that teachers are no longer left alone to confront addictive technologies developed with billions of dollars in corporate investment.

Ultimately, protecting children’s attention skills means safeguarding Taiwanese civil society.

The Executive Yuan should coordinate across government agencies to build a national digital defense strategy through forward-looking legislation. We must reject the continued colonization of Taiwanese children’s minds by commercial mechanisms of capitalism.

Only with effective regulations can we help young Taiwanese develop the resilience and strength of character needed to sustain the country’s democratic future.