7 in 10 South Koreans support restricting minors' social media use, survey finds

Amid growing global concern over excessive social media use among minors, seven in 10 South Koreans support policies restricting teenagers' access to social media platforms, a new survey shows.

According to the Korea Press Foundation's Media Research Center, 70.7 percent of respondents backed such restrictions in an online survey of 1,000 people aged 14 to 58 conducted last month.

Of those in favor, 28.7 percent said they "strongly support" the idea and 42.0 percent said they "somewhat support" it. Opposition stood at 29.3 percent in total — 22.3 percent "somewhat opposed" and 7.0 percent "strongly opposed."

Teenagers, who made up one-fifth of respondents, bucked the overall trend: 59.0 percent opposed restrictions, while only 41.0 percent were in favor.

Among adults, support was high regardless of whether they had children — 77.5 percent of parents with minor children backed restrictions, as did 78.3 percent of adults without children.

When asked what age limit would be most appropriate, respondents most frequently chose 15, cited by 16.8 percent. That was followed by 18 (14.9 percent) and under 12 (13.1 percent).

Despite broad support for restrictions, most respondents expected such policies to have limited effect, anticipating that teenagers would simply use other people's accounts or migrate to platforms and online services not covered by the rules.

Against that backdrop, when asked whether efforts to create a safer social media environment for young people should focus on "usage restrictions" or "platform accountability," 59.8 percent said the priority should be making platforms' features and environments safer. Teenagers were particularly emphatic on this point, with 72.0 percent placing greater responsibility on platforms.