President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has stated that work is currently underway to amend laws to implement the necessary measures to block certain social media apps for children under the age of 16.

The President made these remarks during a press conference held today while speaking on several important initiatives being undertaken by the government.

President Dr. Muizzu stated that Maldivian society is a close-knit, small community built upon fine Islamic principles and values. Therefore, he emphasized that priority must be given to addressing the issues present within the community.

Highlighting the need to look at frameworks utilized by other countries to tackle such issues, the President stated that the decision to take measures to ban children under the age of 16 from using certain social media apps in the Maldives was made for the safety of the youth.

He noted that this has always been a major concern for parents and remains a significant challenge globally, pointing out that children are highly exposed to the dangers of social media. Specifically, the President highlighted cyberbullying as a major threat to children's futures, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding them from such harms.

Furthermore, the President pointed out that the threat of online grooming faced by children is a major challenge to the community. He stated that protecting children from these dangers is an important responsibility that must be carried out collectively by state institutions, non-governmental organizations, and the general public.

To protect youth and children from these threats, the government has decided to restrict children under 16 from using specific social media applications. The President stated that in formulating this policy, the government will reference the frameworks currently practiced in Australia, bring the necessary amendments to Maldivian laws, and hold discussions with relevant international tech companies.

"We aim to complete the related work and hope to practically enforce this within this year, banning the use of social media apps for children under 16 through a system similar to the one in Australia. This does not mean moving away from digitalization; our core policy is 'Maldives 2.0,'" the President said.The President also assured that this new system would not hinder children's educational development or their ability to learn new skills via the internet.