Attorney General Anil Nandlall has confirmed that the Government has written to the social media site, Facebook, seeking to establish a formal relationship, as it is moving to clamp down on unregulated social media use for children.

Speaking during his weekly “Issues in the News” programme, Mr. Nandlall said, there is no ulterior motive behind the Government’s move.

He is also contending that there is no political move to censor anyone on the platform, but stated that the nation’s children remain at risk of being exposed to the dark side of the internet.

“There is pornography, there is violence, there are violent materials and there are materials there that a child should be shielded from. If you don’t appreciate that then I don’t think that you belong to civilized society, if you don’t see the dangers that ban unregulated web, and unregulated social media access, if you don’t see the evil and harm that that can have on our children, then I am not speaking to you and this has nothing to do with politics,” the Attorney General said.

But access to pornography and violent material is not limited to social media websites.

Mr. Nandlall said the Government has embarked on a public consultation campaign on the matter, and has so far received broad consensus over the need to regulate the platform for children’s use.

Nandall made said the Government is not trying to stop the use of Facebook in Guyana, but is simply putting systems in place to ensure that children are protected. He said the world is moving in that direction and Guyana intends to follow same.

“Facebook is a global platform, you can’t stop Facebook, nobody is trying to stop Facebook, every country is trying to regulate what goes on in the cyberspace and we are moving in direction. The United Nation has produced a model legislation, a 177 countries have already signed. So this is not something that’s not going to happen, it is happening. How are you going to regulate this global platform if you don’t have a relationship with the global platform?” Nandlall questioned.

Mr. Nandlall also criticized the opposition for not supporting the initiative.

Once the consultations are completed the Government will be taking legislation to the National Assembly to have the process formalized.

“This initiative is devoid of any disadvantage because our children will continue to have access but it will now be managed. They will continue to have access to educational programmes but they will not have access to pornography, and what they have access to would be dependent on their age,” Mr. Nandlall said.

Mr. Nandlall said Guyanese have nothing to fear as the intended legislation and initiative are not intended to control or censor, but to accord paramount importance and protection to the welfare of children.

Critics of the plan have raised privacy concerns as it relates to the parents of those children being forced to enter their personal information for verification by those sites. Additionally, the Government has not stated what data, if any, it is using behind its regulation push.

Related posts:

Attorney General seeks partnership with parents, teachers and legal fraternity in plans to regulate use of social media by children Government begin consultations on regulations to protect children from ills of internet and social media Regulations governing social media will be for public good -says AG Nandlall AG Nandlall to introduce Cybercrime regulations to cover social media