Another round of stakeholder consultations on Monday brought together several prominent legal minds, who shared their views on the consequential effects of social media on children. The Attorney General’s (AG) Chambers and the Legal Affairs Ministry hosted the session at the Cara Lodge Hotel, Quamina Street, Georgetown. Weighing in on the discussion, CARICOM Secretariat General Counsel, Lisa Shoman, praised Guyana for providing the leadership on this front and in starting such conversations, while making her own submissions. “I am now going to evangelise to the rest of the Caribbean, that you are the leaders on this, and that you will be working with CARICOM member states,” the general counsel is quoted as saying in a Department of Public Information (DPI) report. Shoman urged Guyana to ensure that young people are actively involved in shaping policies, emphasising that the Caribbean Regional Youth Council and other youth bodies should be key stakeholders in these conversations. According to Shoman, protecting children online must be balanced with preparing them for a rapidly evolving future.

Emphasising the need for a balanced approach to regulating children’s use of social media, Chairperson of the Constitution Reform Commission, Justice Carl Singh, cited Australia’s efforts to restrict access for younger users, while acknowledging the challenges of monitoring and enforcement. Justice Singh underscored that social media does indeed have advantages and disadvantages. He further explained that there are platforms beneficial to children, particularly for educational purposes, while there are others that can cause harm by exposure to inappropriate content.

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