A recent survey reveals that a significant majority of South Koreans are in favor of introducing policies to restrict social media access for teenagers. The data, released on Tuesday, indicates that seven out of ten people support such regulatory measures.

Specifically, the survey conducted last month by the Korea Press Foundation polled 1,000 individuals aged between 14 and 58. The results showed that 70.7% of respondents supported these types of policies, while 29.3% were against them. However, opinions diverged sharply within the teenage demographic, who accounted for one-fifth of the total respondents. In that group, 59% opposed the proposed restrictions, with only 41% expressing support.

Regarding the appropriate age for imposing such limits, the most common answer, chosen by 16.8% of participants, was 15 years old. This was followed by 14.9% who selected 18 years old, and 13.1% who opted for 11 years old or younger. Despite this backing for the concept, a majority of those polled were skeptical about the effectiveness of these measures. They voiced concerns that teenagers could circumvent the rules by using other people's accounts or migrating to new, unregulated platforms.

Given this context, the survey found that 59.8% of respondents believed that platforms should focus more on fostering a secure social media environment rather than simply placing restrictions on users. This sentiment comes in the wake of a proposal in July by South Korea's media regulator, which suggested implementing social media restrictions for children under 14, citing the global issue of excessive social media use among young people.