The government of Guyana will launch a national consultation in January to address the growing abuse of social media, particularly its impact on children and families, President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced.
Speaking during an engagement with journalists and students, the president stressed that the initiative is not about restricting social media but about developing informed, balanced solutions through broad-based public input.
“I don’t want to use the word ‘restricting’ social media,” President Ali said. “I want the consultation to tell us what we should do.”
President Irfaan Ali addressing students during an engagement at the Courtyard Railway
President Ali said a dedicated team is already being assembled and that he himself is reviewing international case studies, including approaches used in Australia, Germany, the European Union and the United Kingdom, as Guyana examines policy options suited to its own social and cultural context.
He noted that the issue of misinformation and excessive social media use is now recognised globally, with the United Nations declaring a fight against what it calls a pandemic of misinformation and disinformation.
“Social media is not the problem,” the President said. “It is the abuse of social media.”
The president revealed that over the holidays, he heard the concerns of hundreds of parents about their children spending excessive hours online, often throughout the night and into the following day.
He recounted one parent’s experience of confiscating a device at midnight, only to wake hours later to find their child “crawling into the room like ninjas” to retrieve it, underscoring the scale of the challenge facing families.
“As parents, we all face the challenge of managing screen time,” President Ali said.
Drawing on his own experience during a recent visit to Silicon Valley in California, the president said that senior technology executives acknowledged the risks of excessive screen exposure, noting that many limit or completely restrict device use for their own children.
“That tells us that everyone recognises this is a real problem,” he added.
President Ali emphasised that enforcement alone cannot address the issue, pointing instead to consultation, education and shared responsibility as the foundation for effective policy.
“We want families, young people, churches and communities to be involved in helping us come up with the best possible solution,” he said.
The president said the upcoming consultations will guide government action, ensuring that any measures adopted are balanced, inclusive and responsive to the lived realities of Guyanese families, while safeguarding children and strengthening social well-being in the digital age.
