Latest news with #youthprotection
Bloomberg
15 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Teen Social Media Ban Moves Closer in Australia After Tech Trial
Australia's world-first social media ban for under-16s moved closer to implementation after a key trial found that checking a user's age is technologically possible and can be integrated into existing services. The conclusions are a blow to Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc., TikTok and Snap Inc., which opposed the controversial legislation. Some platform operators had questioned whether a user's age could be reliably established using current technology.
CTV News
18 hours ago
- CTV News
Quebec sees a 5% increase in youth protection reports
Lesley Hill, the new national director of youth protection, DPJ, speaks at a news conference, Thursday, October 31, 2024 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press) Around 141,600 reports were made to Quebec's Youth Protection (DPJ) in 2024-2025, representing a five per cent increase compared to last year, according to statistics from the DPJ's annual report presented on Thursday. The reports concern 105,675 children in Quebec. 'That's a lot of children we're concerned about,' said Montérégie DPJ director Marie-Josée Audette. 'The number of reports continues to rise. (...) Nevertheless, the retention rate is decreasing. There are 35,264 children for whom the report has been retained. This represents less than a third of all reports received.' It should be noted that nearly 40 per cent of children taken into care by the DPJ remained in their family environment. At a news conference in Quebec City, Lesley Hill, who became the new provincial director of youth protection (DPJ) last fall, acknowledged that youth protection issues are systemic. She said she began her tour of Quebec's regions, which allowed her to make observations in the field. 'Unfortunately, terrible things are happening to children. I was also able to see the magnitude of the challenges and systemic issues we face,' she said. Hill was not surprised by this, as she is a former commissioner of the Special Commission on the Rights of Children and Youth Protection, which was formed in the wake of the Granby girl tragedy. 'We had already documented these systemic issues, but when you're in the field, you realize how complex it all is,' the director said. More than 10,000 teenagers in care Hill indicated in the report that a major transformation was needed to move toward more humane approaches in DPJ services. 'Many parents have told me how powerless they feel in a system that seems cold and austere to them. Many young people have told me about the importance of humanizing the system,' she said. 'Unfortunately, we are seeing that many children and families are being reported without having received any prior services, sometimes in extremely critical situations. And I always ask myself, if we had been able to provide them with better support, would we be in this situation?' For 2024-2025, there were also 10,095 adolescents who received services under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (LLJPA), representing a 7.4 per cent increase over last year. 'It's a small number, but this small number requires our full attention so that it doesn't become a very large number. Several mechanisms, support systems and approaches have been put in place to ensure that we take the necessary steps to keep this number very small,' said Audette. She spoke of 'very serious situations' that occurred this year and attracted the attention of youth protection directors, including affiliations with organized crime and car theft. 'The LLJPA clearly demonstrates that early intervention upstream prevents delinquency. The biggest predictors of delinquency are expulsion from school, isolation and neglect. The financial precariousness of families, the shortage of adequate housing, the psychological state of parents and children — these are all factors that need to be addressed. The DPJ cannot respond to all needs on its own,' argued Chaudière-Appalaches DPJ director Caroline Brown. Difficult budgetary context The fragile economic context means that the government faces difficult choices in managing its budget. In recent months, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government has imposed cuts of several million dollars on the health and social services network, as well as on school service centres and the education sector. 'As the DPJ, it is clearly a concern when we talk about cuts affecting children and young people. As we have said, the impact is significant, particularly in schools, in terms of decisions to homeschool, suspend or expel students. But I think what we are also trying to see with the ministries and with Santé Québec is how to implement important measures that should not be overlooked for the children of Quebec,' said Gaspésie--Îles-de-la-Madeleine DPJ director Michelle Frenette. The Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS) has denounced the fact that working conditions remain a cause for concern in several regions, highlighting that there are 'hundreds of vacant positions, significant administrative overload and a severe lack of resources.' 'Our members are exhausted and have been waiting too long for concrete action to lighten their workload and improve their working conditions,' said APTS president Robert Comeau in a news release. This has repercussions on the support offered to young people, particularly in cases of domestic violence or transition to adulthood. However, Comeau is hopeful that Hill's recent appointment will improve the situation. He hopes that her mandate will lead to more transparent and constructive communication between the field and decision-makers. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 19, 2025. The Canadian Press's health content is funded through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian Press is solely responsible for editorial choices.
RNZ News
03-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
The powerful women behind a social media ban campaign
Founding member of B416, Malindi MacLean Photo: Sharon Brettkelly A year ago, a group of rich-lister mums met with other high fliers from all walks of life and political hues with one thing in mind. Many were strangers to each other but the thing that united them was the push to bring in a law to get under-16-year-olds off social media . Such is the power of the group B416 and their cause that politicians from all corners came along to their launch last month, including ACT's David Seymour - who doesn't support a social media ban. It took place just days after National's Catherine Wedd put forward her Social Media Age-Restricted Users Bill, a private members bill. Since the launch, the move has faced criticism of moral panic, overreach and that a ban will risk the lives of vulnerable young people. But B416, which is co-chaired by entrepreneur Cecilia Robinson and includes multi-millionaire toy maker Anna Mowbray, says it is time to listen to parents who want to protect their children from social media harm. Founding member Malindi MacLean, who heads Outward Bound, says a lot of the criticism is from people who are not parents. "It's really important to keep [in mind] the lived experience of parents. They are day in, day out experiencing the impact of social media addiction, or addictive behaviours of their children. "A parent who has just been dealing with their teenager who is self harming or has sextortion or dealing with cyber bullying ... it's not something that you can argue with." The Social Media Age-Restricted Users Bill is in the biscuit tin at Parliament, which means it may never see the light of day before the next election. Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins Those arguing against a potential law that would force social media giants to use age verification measures on under-16s include retired district court judge David Harvey; youth mental health activist Jazz Thornton, Victoria University media lecturer Alex Beattie and the online counselling service Youthline. Judge Harvey says the proposed bill is flawed and could get the government in trouble with freedom of expression laws. There's also a risk that it will exclude the likes of YouTube, he says. Thornton believes a blanket ban will cause harm to the most vulnerable children and even lead to deaths; while Beattie argues social media can be a good communication tool for children and parents, and is not an addiction like smoking. MacLean says she welcomes the debate but her group wants progress. Hence the extensive billboard and social media campaign. She says the time and resources put into the campaign would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. But the influential group has tapped into many communities for contributions and support. "That just shows the appetite for change. The other thing is we've had a lot of support from organisations pro bono because most of them are human beings who also understand the issues." Wedd's private members bill is in the biscuit tin at Parliament, which means it may never see the light of day before the next election. That's not good enough for B416, which wants to see a policy by the end of the year, following Australia's world first law and trials of the age-verification technology already underway. Tech expert Danu Abeysuriya of digital firm Rush tells The Detail how the technology could work and why it is important for New Zealand to follow Australia and others. "We are a small nation and we don't represent a lot of revenue for large tech companies like Google, Facebook or X or Twitter. They focus on social media and to those companies our ad revenue is relatively small. CEO of digital firm Rush, Danu Abeysuriya Photo: Sharon Brettkelly "Whatever we have to do we should still attempt to be practical otherwise we risk being alienated from those platforms. The balancing act is aligning what we do with what the rest of the world does." Abeysuriya says there are a number of age verification options but one of the simplest would be a digital token that could be bought from the Warehouse or the local petrol station or even the child's school. Other technology could be used to put children off using social media, such as slowing down internet traffic. In this case the government would mandate Internet Service Providers such as One NZ to run traffic at half-speed in specific time periods. "It creates a bit of friction," says Abeysuriya. "If the TikTok video loads really slowly the kids might not watch the TikTok video, they might do something else like read a book." He says the solutions are ideas and nothing will be perfect. "The bravery to move is the thing that needs to happen here." Check out how to listen to and fol low The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
The Herald
30-05-2025
- Health
- The Herald
KZN health MEC Simelane calls for urgent action against older men impregnating girls
'This is not only a health crisis, it's a social justice emergency. Unless we talk about it and act decisively, we will continue to see young lives destroyed. We are raising a broken generation if we remain silent,' said Simelane. The MEC called for unity and decisive action, proposing that district mayors, amakhosi (traditional leaders) and izinduna (headmen) collaborate with government and civil society to confront the crisis. 'We need to come together and deal with this matter head-on because the activities are happening where we are. Children get pregnant in our societies, in our communities.' Simelane also highlighted the troubling pattern where victims, once pregnant, avoid healthcare services due to fear of exposing perpetrators, who are often adult men who are family breadwinners or protected by informal family agreements. 'What is more concerning is that some young victims stop accessing healthcare and social services once they realise we are legally required to report the perpetrators. This puts young girls at high risk, specially when they are forced to give birth in unsafe conditions.' Under law, any sexual activity with a person under the age of 16 is considered statutory rape. Clinics and hospitals are required to report such cases to law enforcement authorities.
CBC
29-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Sentencing arguments begin for former Montreal youth baseball coach convicted of sexual assault
Robert Litvack was found guilty last fall of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy. He coached in the Lac-Saint-Louis baseball league from 2008 to 2024.
