South Korea eyes age limit on youth SNS use, with polling set before year's end

KCC accelerates discussions with gender equality ministry

Survey to cover age restrictions and appropriate age thresholds

Authorities weigh global trend against potential constitutional concerns

A young person looks at a smartphone screen showing social networking service applications. [Getty Images Bank]

South Korea's Korea Communications Commission (KCC) has confirmed it will launch a public opinion survey on age restrictions for youth social networking service use before the end of the year.

The move follows earlier reporting on April 24 and a subsequent briefing to President Lee Jae Myung, signaling accelerating momentum behind a potential SNS age limit for minors. With the survey results likely to feed directly into youth SNS policy, discussions on setting an age threshold are expected to gain further pace.

The debate is gaining traction globally — Australia has set its limit at 16, France at 15 — and attention is now focused on whether a South Korean version of youth SNS age restrictions will be codified into law.

The KCC will conduct a public opinion survey on youth SNS age restrictions in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family before the end of the year.

The two ministries plan to commission a polling firm to examine whether age restrictions on youth SNS use should be introduced, what the appropriate age threshold should be, and how such measures relate to youth development policy. The survey will also gather views on SNS features that promote excessive dependence, such as infinite scrolling and recommendation algorithms.

At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Lee ordered swift action on youth SNS age restrictions. KCC Chairman Kim Jong-cheol responded, saying the commission is "pursuing the matter with the goal of completing a social consensus process by the first half of next year."

With both the president and the minister in charge lending their weight to the issue, discussions on youth SNS age restrictions appear to be picking up speed.

The KCC had already signaled its direction at a presidential briefing last July, when it announced plans to regulate addictive SNS features for minors — disclosing that it was reviewing a ban on membership for those under 14 and mandatory restrictions on addiction-inducing features for those under 19.

Age restrictions on youth SNS use are spreading rapidly around the world. Since Australia became the first country to enforce such a limit in December last year, similar discussions have expanded to Greece and Denmark, which are considering restrictions for those under 15, Austria for those under 14, and Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia, all weighing limits for those under 16.

The KCC is closely watching France, where a court recently struck down the country's youth SNS age restriction policy — which applied to those under 15 — as unconstitutional. South Korean authorities cannot rule out the possibility that the Constitutional Court could similarly block a domestic measure on freedom-of-expression grounds.

Nine related bills are currently pending in the National Assembly. In addition to proposals on age restrictions or verification put forward by lawmakers Yun Geon-young, Kim Nam-kuk and Baek Seung-a, the pending legislation includes a bill by lawmaker Kim Jang-gyeom requiring legal guardian consent and limiting notifications during certain hours; a bill by Ahn Cheol-soo banning information recommendation algorithms and requiring separate consent for nighttime use; a bill by lawmaker Jo Jeong-hun allowing users to set daily usage limits and requiring parental confirmation on algorithm permissions; and a bill by lawmaker Kim Tae-seon requiring consent from the user or a legal guardian for algorithm-driven advertising and information recommendations during nighttime hours.

The KCC said it "plans to work with relevant ministries, including those responsible for youth policy, to seek a rational response grounded in social consensus to address youth SNS overdependence," adding that it would "conduct in-depth discussions on the necessity of restricting youth SNS use and the specific methods for doing so."

The commission added that it would "actively support legislative discussions on the related amendments to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection currently pending in the National Assembly."

ko@heraldcorp.com