Press release

Factsheet: Singapore Teens and Parents Agree: Safer Social Media, Not No Social Media

23 October 2026

Parents and youth in Singapore support a graduated approach to social media access for children. They favour stronger protections for younger children and age-appropriate access with safeguards as they mature, rather than an outright ban.
These findings emerged from MDDI's engagements with over 2,000 parents and youth from June to August 2026, on young people's social media use, online risks and a tiered approach to social media access. The engagements comprised focus group discussions, school dialogues, a survey on CrowdTaskSG. Additional sessions conducted by community partners, including TOUCH Community Services, Fei Yue Community Services, YouthTechSG and Singapore Children's Society, provided further perspectives that informed the overall findings.

PARENTS AND YOUTHS PREFER AGE-APPROPRIATE ACCESS OVER BLANKET BANS

Neither parents nor youth in Singapore favoured an outright ban on social media for children. They felt that education, digital literacy and graduated access would be more sustainable than blanket restrictions. Parents felt that children should be gradually introduced to online platforms so that they can learn to navigate social media in a safer environment. Some youth also said that overly restrictive measures risk a “forbidden fruit” effect, making social media more appealing.

Table 1

MORE THAN 80% PARENTS SUPPORT for a tiered approach	NEARLY 70% YOUTH SUPPORT for a tiered approach	YOUTH PERSPECTIVE “Everyone has social media by then. Activities are also more tech-reliant and may necessitate the use of social media,” said one youth participant on why children aged 16 should have access.
		PARENTS’ PERSPECTIVE “Allowing controlled access helps children gradually learn to navigate social media responsibly.”

VIEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA SHIFT AS CHILDREN MATURE

Most parents and youth supported age-appropriate access to social media, citing children and teenagers’ greater vulnerability to online harms. However, both groups felt that access should support educational needs or the development of digital literacy. Youth generally supported greater access to social media from age 16, when young people were seen as having greater maturity and capacity to manage their social media use independently.

Table 2

AGE GROUP	YOUTH	PARENTS
0 - 6 Years Old	No Access
7 - 12 Years Old	Age-Appropriate
13 - 15 Years Old	Age-Appropriate
16 - 17 Years Old	Full Access/ Age-Appropriate	Age-Appropriate
18 Years & Above	Full Access

Some parents and youth also expressed caution against relying solely on age to determine maturity of the young users. On the proposed implementation of age assurance measures, most parents agreed that age verification¹ and/or age estimation² should be implemented, while emphasising the importance of safeguarding users’ privacy and not collecting excessive personal data. While both parents and youth acknowledged that no measure would be completely foolproof, they agreed that age verification was a more viable option than age estimation or self-declaration of age.

Table 3

Close to 80% parents agree on implementing age verification and/or age estimation	AGE VERIFICATION	AGE ESTIMATION
	More reliable than age estimation - more concrete and easier to enforce Government-led ID verification scheme should be government-administered rather than platform-administered	Seen as a useful supplement, particularly if combined with verification Concerns over accuracy, or if tools can be used to bypass the systems

EXCESSIVE USE RANKED HIGH AMONG TOP 5 CONCERNS

Excessive use was ranked high among top 5 concerns for both parents and youth. Exposure to inappropriate content and interaction with strangers were top concerns among parents, but ranked lower in priority among youth. Both groups also raised concerns over platform features such as autoplay, infinite scrolling, and targeted feeds encouraging compulsive usage.

Table 4

YOUTH	TOP SHARED CONCERN	PARENTS
71% Screen addition & overuse	SCREEN ADDICTION & OVERUSE	84% Inappropriate content
55% Misinformation, fake news & scams		59% Screen addition & overuse
48% Privacy issues		52% Interaction with strangers
37% Inappropriate content		36% Cyberbullying
24% Cyberbullying		30% Physical & mental wellness

PARENTS BACK SAFEGUARDS AGAINST ADDICTIVE USE AND UNWANTED CONTACT

Parents showed strong support for safeguards to reduce the risks of addictive use and unwanted contact, although views were more varied on how some measures should be implemented.
Parents generally supported daily screen-time limits, but preferred the flexibility to adjust these based on their children’s needs. Youth were similarly concerned about fixed and rigid limits, noting that these could restrict legitimate uses such as schoolwork and extracurricular activities.
There was also broad support for disabling algorithmic feeds, though some saw value in their ability to surface educational content.

Table 5

TOP THREE PROPOSED DEFAULT SAFEGUARDS
76%	Disable autoplay
75%	Disable direct messaging
75%	Implement daily screen-time limit

In general, many parents expressed desire to retain some agency and flexibility over how safeguards were implemented, particularly where measures such as autoplay and daily time limits might need to be tailored to their children's developmental needs, maturity levels, and family circumstances.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENTS REINFORCE PUSH FOR STRONGER SAFEGUARDS

Across the engagements, parents and youth agreed that online safety for children is a shared responsibility across the government, social media platforms, parents and children themselves. Overall, the findings reinforce the Government’s proposed age-appropriate access approach and platform adjustments to enable young people to benefit from technology while putting stronger protections in place for younger users.
Taking this forward, the Government intends to introduce legislation next year to strengthen safeguards for young social media users, focusing on the following areas.

Table 6

AGE ASSURANCE	SAFER PLATFORM FEATURES
Social media platforms will be required to implement effective age assurance measures³ so that safeguards meant for young users can be applied.	For teenagers, the Government is looking at making social media safer-by-design. This includes restrictions on inappropriate content, unwanted contact, and platform features such as autoplay and daily time limit.

^[1] Age verification refers to the verification of an individual’s age or confirmation that an individual is above a certain age, for e.g., using a verified source of identity documentation such as passport or driving licence, to confirm a user’s age with high degree of certainty.

^[2] Age estimation refers to the estimation of the likely age or age range of users, including through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning technology, and facial age analysis algorithms.

^[3] These measures must be implemented in accordance to obligations under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) and relevant guidelines issued by the Personal Data Protection Commission.