Child pro­tec­tion and ad­vo­ca­cy groups have wel­comed Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar’s ac­knowl­edge­ment that stronger mea­sures are need­ed to pro­tect chil­dren on­line, but cau­tion that an out­right ban on so­cial me­dia would be too ex­treme.

On Tues­day, Per­sad-Bisses­sar post­ed on X (for­mer­ly Twit­ter) that her Gov­ern­ment is pre­pared to con­sid­er leg­is­la­tion to reg­u­late so­cial me­dia use for chil­dren un­der the age of 12.

Her com­ments fol­lowed a call by Arch­bish­op Charles Ja­son Gor­don for re­stric­tions sim­i­lar to those be­ing ex­plored in Aus­tralia, aimed at curb­ing self-harm and sui­cide among young peo­ple.