VIDEO: Sask. parents to be asked for their opinions on social media bans this spring

The Government of Saskatchewan is sending survey postcards to households around the province as it works to gauge public interest and opinion on a potential ban on social media for kids 16 and under.

The government said it wants to hear directly from parents and residents on the role it should play in governing social media use and whether it should consider an outright ban, include some flexibility or leave the matter entirely for parents to decide.

Read more:

• Survey says: Sask. parents to be polled about kids on social media
• Parents who don’t allow kids to have smartphones say social media ban would ease their minds
• Sask. parents have split reactions on need for social media ban for minors

The postcards will include several questions on possible limitations on social media use, along with a field for additional comments. The government said in its release that the results “will be tabulated over the summer.”

“We are interested in a dialogue and understand the federal government is open to a conversation about placing limits on social media,” Premier Scott Moe said in a statement.

“We want to go into that conversation with the knowledge that we are representing the wishes of our residents.”

Speaking to media, Premier Scott Moe said children are growing up in a very different world, a world shaped up online contact.

“Social media, we understand, can have a very positive role to play in so many individuals, and in particular in youth’s, life … but we also know that there are negative aspects and there are serious risks to that connection to social media platforms as well,” Moe said.

He pointed to a recent Angus Reid poll, which found 70 per cent of parents with kids at home in Canada were supportive of limits for kids under 16 on social media. But Moe said he wants to know what people in Saskatchewan think.

The premier said he hopes people send the surveys back – the province has already paid the postage – and the government will compile that information and use it to inform the government’s position and how it advocates to the federal government about potential limits nationally.

Moe said his government believes a national framework would be more effective than a “patchwork” of provincial rules. Manitoba’s premier has promised a ban in that province, while the federal government has recently been talking about its own limits.

The premier said he didn’t want to preclude what the survey would come back with.

“Some would think that this is fully within the parents’ perspective, and the government should stay out of this – national and provincial – some, maybe my age and older, might think this is no significant issue by any stretch, I grew up without social media so it shouldn’t be a problem at all to remove it,” explained Moe.

Moe and Mental Health and Addictions Minister Lori Carr both fall on the side of having some limits.

Carr is a grandmother of five and she said when he grandkids are away from devices and playing together, it’s much more enjoyable.

“I truly see the benefits of limiting the amount of time that my grandchildren spend on social media, or on a device just in general, because the connection that you have with with human beings is just irreplaceable and much more healthy for them in developing their life skills,” said Carr.

The provincial government is asking people to have the surveys back by June 30.

“We know there is growing concern over the harmful effects of social media on mental health, particularly for young people and we want to be sure we are being respectful of parents wishes in how we can support our youth to have happy, healthy childhoods.”

The province noted that Ottawa is also considering restrictions on social media use for those 16 and under and said its potential restrictions would govern major social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat.

Earlier this year, social media giants YouTube and Meta, which own Facebook and Instagram, were found liable for the harm their platforms caused to minors in a landmark U.S. lawsuit, with a California judge awarding $3 million in damages.