Italy debates banning social media for children: Government takes action

In Italy, a campaign launched by a group of experts and artists to ban mobile phone and social media use for children in certain age groups has received support from the government. Minister of Education Giuseppe Valditara announced that he supports the ban campaign.

The petition launched in Italy to ban children from owning smartphones and having social media accounts has sparked debate.

FAMOUS NAMES HAD LAUNCHED A CAMPAIGN TO ENACT A BAN

According to reports in the Italian press, the petition launched by pedagogue Daniele Novara and psychotherapist Alberto Pellai, which aims to prevent children under 14 from owning mobile phones and children under 16 from creating profiles on social media platforms through legal regulation, has also received support from Italy's famous figures.

In addition to director Paola Cortellesi, Italian actors such as Alba Rohrwacher, Stefano Accorsi and Luca Zingaretti joined the campaign, arguing that children should be protected from mobile phones and social media.

Valditara, the Minister of Education of the right-wing coalition government, also stated in a statement to the ANSA agency that he agrees with this initiative by the famous names.

Valditara said, 'This is a position that is increasingly shared internationally. The damage caused by the early use of mobile phones and social networks is now clearly visible to everyone.'

MINISTER OF YOUTH AND SPORTS REACTED TO THE BAN CAMPAIGN

Despite Valditara's view, Minister of Youth and Sports Andrea Abodi stated in a post on social media that banning is not the right path and that the issue should be addressed through dialogue.

Pedagogue Novara, one of the figures who brought the issue to the agenda, stated in an interview with the newspaper La Repubblica that the situation regarding children's use of mobile phones and social media has spiraled out of control, noting that it would be sufficient to look at the increase in learning disability cases in significant studies to see this.

Novara expressed that the most frightening problem is the isolation of children and young people.

A study published yesterday in La Repubblica also revealed that 47 percent of children aged 11-19 spend more than 5 hours a day on internet applications, a rate that was 30 percent in 2020.

Italian Minister of Education Valditara had announced in a statement in July that he had signed a circular banning the use of smartphones in classrooms for any purpose, including education, up to middle school starting from the new academic year.