A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Tema Central Constituency, Richard Anning, has backed Child Rights International’s (CRI) call for restrictions on social media use by children under the age of 17, citing weak regulation and poor parenting as major concerns.
His comments follow a recent CRI study which revealed that children in Ghana spend up to seven hours a day online, exposing them to risks including sexual content, cyber abuse and online exploitation.
The study found that about 80 per cent of children between the ages of five and 12 use digital screens daily, with many spending between two and seven hours on devices, particularly mobile phones. Conducted between March and May 2026, the research surveyed more than 8,000 children across Accra, Kumasi, Sunyani and Tamale.
Speaking on Plan B FM’s Nkosuo Nsem, hosted by Abusua Panyin Mireku, Mr. Anning questioned the country’s inability to effectively regulate social media platforms and digital content creators.
According to him, regulation remains one of Ghana’s biggest challenges, arguing that the authorities have not been proactive enough in ensuring proper oversight of the digital space.
“We have been too liberal when it comes to regulating social media,” he said.
He further questioned how the country intends to enforce a ban on social media use by children under 17 if existing regulatory mechanisms remain weak.
Mr. Anning also attributed part of the problem to what he described as Ghana’s tendency to blindly adopt practices from Western countries without considering the country’s cultural values. He argued that some behaviours and content accepted elsewhere are inconsistent with Ghanaian norms and should not be embraced without scrutiny.
He also blamed poor parenting for the increasing exposure of children to harmful online content, stressing that parents have a critical role to play in monitoring and guiding their children’s digital activities.
Despite concerns over enforcement, Mr. Anning said he supports CRI’s call for tighter restrictions on social media use by children, expressing hope that the proposal will spark meaningful policy discussions aimed at protecting young people from the growing dangers of the online environment.
By: Bernard Mensah |Planbfmonline.com
Discussion about this post