‘Don't blame the kids'

The Star

17 hours ago

THERE is always the tendency, especially among the older generation, to complain about the use, abuse and overuse of social media by young people, says International Islamic University of Indonesia political scientist Prof Farish A. Noor.
In calling for tech developers to be held accountable for the abuse of their products such as social media and other related technology, as well as a well-defined age limit for younger users, Farish says the differences between victims and the perpetrators need to be distinguished.
In Malaysia, most social media platforms set the minimum age at 13, although it is not a legal requirement. However, the government is pushing for stricter age checks and better public education on online safety, especially for children, through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
'For me, the younger generation are the victims. Let's not forget one thing. Kids didn't invent social media. Thirteen-year-olds did not invent Instagram, TikTok or Facebook.
'We know who invented these things. They are now adults. They are CEOs. They are billionaires. These people are powerful people. They are very powerful corporate figures, all of whom are adults and they are part of the global elite. Now the responsibility goes to them.'
Farish also expresses his frustration that the same regulations imposed on alcohol, tobacco and gun usage are not implemented for social media, which studies time and again have shown to have a deleterious effect on IQ, cognitive capabilities and communicative capabilities, other than the adverse effect on morale and self-esteem especially of young people, especially young girls.
'If I invented a stupidity pill, you swallow this pill and your IQ drops by 50%, no government on the planet will allow me to sell that pill. No government on the planet will allow me to sell a stupidity pill.
'If you don't let me sell my stupid pill that makes you stupid, why are you allowing these companies that are actually making people stupid? Normalising them in a state of daily, passive, mindless consumption, stupid, trivial, non-news [content].
'We have regulations for smoking. We have regulations for alcohol. We have regulations for gambling. But we are so slow when it comes to social media. And this is an important question. That we, the public, you know, need to ask.'
And the problem is not limited to social media; the emergence of artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT and the like have also affected the quality and mentality of students.
'Whether I'm teaching in Indonesia, Singapore or Malaysia, I know my students can cheat because there are these technologies that help them to cheat.
'And there are also technologies that help them hide the fact that they are cheating. We know this. It's all there.
'So I can't stop my students from accessing this. And I can't blame my students because they didn't invent these technologies.'
He calls for a simple regulatory mentality among the political elites, who are users of social media themselves.
'So like I said, in the same way that you don't let 13-year-olds buy guns, you don't let 13-year-olds buy cigarettes.
'Why on earth are there no age limits for people to go on social media? If I had a 13-year-old child, I would never allow my child to actually go on these things because I know it's going to be dangerous for him or her.'