TikTok proposed to be restricted for children in Kazakhstan

It is now impossible to imagine our life without the Internet. Social networks have become firmly established in the lives of our citizens. According to Mazhilis deputy, member of the AMANAT faction Erlan Sairov, today 12.1 million people in the country are registered on Instagram, 2.6 million on Facebook, and 14.1 million on TikTok in just two years, Liter.kz reports.

Many parents are alarmed by the fact that very young children are increasingly becoming active users of the social network, the deputy said.

Social networks not only deprive children of their golden childhood, when they should receive useful knowledge, develop, and be on the move, but also have a negative impact on their health and psyche. Among such networks that cause great moral harm to our youth is TikTok, which is especially popular among children. Unfortunately, today’s youth are not brought up in the spirit of the traditions of their ancestors, but largely through TikTok, which, in addition to useful content, contains a lot of video materials that push the child towards negative habits and misconduct,” said Erlan Sairov.

He also noted that advertisements for various games, online casinos, streams, even reels filled with pornography, calls for suicide, slander and obscene language are distributed through TikTok. Children not only watch them, but also become victims of violence and gambling. Parents, as well as grandparents, are increasingly talking about this during meetings with deputies.

In pursuit of hype and prank, they completely lost their shame. Instead of compassion, kindness, care, pity, goodness and generosity, mercy, respect and kindness, cruelty, merciless bitterness, deception, lies, jealousy and pride are increasing in society. Facts of schoolchildren’s cruel treatment of each other are becoming widespread on social networks. Considering such a dangerous influence of this social network, a number of countries around the world have already imposed restrictions on the use of TikTok. For example, India has banned TikTok completely since 2020, citing national security concerns. Indonesia has introduced temporary restrictions since 2018. Neighboring Uzbekistan has banned TikTok from 2021. Kyrgyzstan also introduced restrictions. Recently, the US government imposed a partial restriction on TikTok. EU countries have banned the installation of TikTok on the phones of their officials. And in the same China where TikTok was invented, they created a special TikTok for children with separate content for minors. That is, in China itself, children cannot use the full TikTok format; there are clear restrictions,” he emphasized.

The future of the entire state depends on the spiritual and moral character of our younger generation, Sairov added.

Therefore, it is necessary to educate future generations on the basis of national values, resist moral threats from the outside, and together form a mechanism for preserving our national code as a state and society. This is a great struggle to preserve our future generations from spiritual decline, to form a new level of our nation,” said Erlan Sairov.

According to the Mazhilis deputy, given the risks that this social network poses to our national security, moral character, health and psyche of our youth, the government of the country needs to take the following measures:

1. According to the recently adopted law on online platforms, establish a restriction on all illegal content on TikTok that is contrary to moral and other universal values.

2. Block content that poisons the minds of children, leading to the imitation of various negative trends that form destructive ideas about society.

3. Introduce a strict restriction on TikTok for minor children or consider the possibility of introducing a special children’s format for this social network based on the experience of China.