Majority of parents and youths prefer tiered access to social media over outright ban: MDDI

SINGAPORE: About 80 per cent of parents and nearly 70 per cent of youths support tiered access to social media over an outright ban, according to findings from the Ministry of Digital Development and Information’s (MDDI) engagement with over 2,000 parents and youths.

The ministry said the findings reinforce the government’s proposed approach of age-appropriate access, alongside platform adjustments to let young people benefit from technology with stronger protections.

It intends to introduce legislation next year focused on age assurance and safer design of social media for teenagers.

Under the approach, platforms would have to put in place effective age assurance measures for young users and make their services safer by design, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said.

This includes restrictions on inappropriate content, unwanted contact and features such as autoplay and daily time limits.

The findings come as more countries have enforced social media bans for children. 

Indonesia was the first country in Southeast Asia to restrict children under 16 from using social media in March this year. Malaysia soon followed in June, enforcing rules barring children under 16 from having social media accounts.

"FORBIDDEN FRUIT" EFFECT

The findings come from MDDI's engagements with parents and youths between June and August 2026 on young people's social media use, online risks and a tiered approach to social media access.

The engagements comprised focus group discussions, school dialogues and a survey on CrowdTaskSG. Community partners including TOUCH Community Services, Fei Yue Community Services, YouthTechSG and Singapore Children’s Society also provided perspectives.

Neither parents nor youths favoured an outright ban on social media for children, the ministry said. Both groups felt education, digital literacy and graduated access would be “more sustainable” than blanket restrictions.

Parents felt children should be introduced to online platforms gradually so they learn to navigate social media in a safer environment. Some youths said overly restrictive measures risk a “forbidden fruit” effect, which makes social media more appealing.

Both groups felt children aged zero to six should have no access, while those aged seven to 15 should have age-appropriate access. Youths generally supported greater access to social media from age 16, seeing young people as more mature and better able to manage their use independently, while parents continued to support age-appropriate access.

MDDI said some parents and youths also expressed caution against relying solely on age to gauge maturity.  

Close to 80 per cent of parents agreed that age verification or age estimation should be implemented. Verification relies on a verified source of identity documentation and is seen as more reliable and easier to enforce, while estimation uses artificial intelligence and facial age analysis to determine a user’s likely age.

At the same time, parents also emphasised the importance of safeguarding privacy and not collecting excessive personal data.

EXCESSIVE USE A TOP CONCERN

Both parents and youths ranked excessive use of social media among their top concerns. About 84 per cent of parents ranked exposure to inappropriate content among their top concerns, a concern that ranked lower among youths.

Both groups also raised concerns that features such as autoplay, infinite scrolling and targeted feeds encourage compulsive use, MDDI said. 

Parents generally supported daily screen-time limits but preferred the flexibility to adjust them to their children’s needs. The top three proposed default safeguards were disabling autoplay, disabling direct messaging and implementing a daily screen-time limit.

Youths were concerned that fixed and rigid limits could restrict legitimate uses such as schoolwork and extracurricular activities. While there was broad support for disabling algorithmic feeds, some saw value in their ability to surface educational content.

“In general, many parents expressed desire to retain some agency and flexibility over how safeguards were implemented, particularly where measures such as autoplay and daily time limits might need to be tailored to their children's developmental needs, maturity levels and family circumstances,” MDDI said.

HEALTHY DIGITAL HABITS FROM YOUNG

IMDA is also partnering with government-supported preschools on lessons about digital habits, built around four key actions: setting boundaries online, thinking before acting, reporting inappropriate content, and parental engagement and support.

The curriculum was first piloted with more than 100 Kindergarten 2 students from E-Bridge preschool. It will be rolled out across all E-Bridge preschool centres from December, reaching close to 3,000 Kindergarten 1 and 2 students across 30 centres.

Skool4Kidz preschool also delivered the curriculum to 800 Kindergarten 2 children across 35 of its centres in September. IMDA said it will continue to engage the Early Childhood Development Agency and reach out to more preschool operators next year.

Parents and families can also access digital parenting resources on the Digital for Life portal, it said.