Social media such as TikTok or Instagram are akin to “virtual pushers”, believes François Legault, who relies on a trans-partisan commission to decide on the need to ban young people from having access to them.
• Also read: Three parties, three councils in Quebec this weekend
“The way social media works is to get readers hooked. It seems a bit like they are virtual pushers, just like drugs, just like other substances, and that is worrying,” the Prime Minister admitted on Saturday at the opening of the General Council of CAQ.
Under pressure from his youth department, François Legault has not ruled out banning access to the youngest. His party also wants to limit the use of mobile phones at school, and not just in the classroom.
But the Prime Minister did not want to get involved. Instead, he is proposing to opposition parties to form a special committee to look into the impact of screens and social networks on young people, as part of a trans-partisan approach similar to that used in the past for medical assistance in dying. We do not know at this time when we will see the fruits of this work.
About ten days ago, François Legault nonetheless rejected and ridiculed the idea of establishing a numerical majority as proposed by his PQ rival Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
But now young caquists are campaigning to set the minimum age for access to social networks at 16. The CAQ Succession Committee therefore wants Quebec to become even stricter than France or even Florida, which will ban young people under the age of 14 from opening an account on a social network.
The young people’s proposal faded away
This youth wing proposal was discussed by about 600 activists gathered in Saint-Hyacinthe, but was watered down.
Several CAQ members took to the microphone to argue that it is not the government’s role to interfere with what happens “in the bedrooms” of Quebecers. Against the idea of setting the numerical majority at 16 years, MP Isabelle Lecours recalled that young people from the age of 14 may consult a doctor in complete confidentiality and without the consent of their parents.
- Listen to the interview with Aurélie Diep, President of the Executive Committee of the Commission de la Relève de la CAQ, on the Mario Dumont show via QUB :
The secretary-treasurer of the Youth Commission asked the government to take measures to protect young people from social networks. “We want to change things,” Léa Leroux emphasized. Just because there are fast food restaurants on every street corner doesn’t mean it’s good for your health!”
Despite the insistence of the young CAQ members, the proposal was significantly amended and stripped of any obligation for the CAQ. It is therefore now a question of setting up a parliamentary committee to investigate “the creation of a numerical majority for minors”. The party does not want to say until what age teenagers are not allowed to open an Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat account.
Despite everything, François Legault shares the same opinion as the young CAQ members that social media are addictive products, just like alcohol, cannabis and gambling. “It scares me, it’s causing significant mental health problems among young people,” he said. I am open to taking significant actions for social networking.
Limit cell phone use at school
However, another position of the young CAQ members was adopted unchanged. The party is now in favor of limiting the use of mobile phones and other screens in schools.
Since January, smartphones have been banned in the classroom. The CAQ believes that students should no longer use their mobile phones during breaks and lunch breaks, unless it is for educational purposes.
Despite the special committee for fencing, Minister Bernard Drainville does not rule out imposing measures before the end of the work if a consensus is reached quickly.
Immigrants are preventing Quebec from moving forward
In his closing speech, François Legault again criticized Ottawa’s migration policy, as he has done regularly since last January.
“Our services are overloaded. Our language is in decline. This is a serious time for our nation,” he told his activists.
He said “the forces of the status quo” and temporary immigrants are preventing Quebec from making progress. “We are being held back by the federal government’s immigration policies,” he stated.
With the collaboration of Patrick Bellerose