Masafumi Koki, the mayor of Toyoake in Aichi Prefecture, recently announced that the city plans to introduce a municipal draft ordinance at its upcoming city council session. The proposal is calling on Toyoake residents who use smartphones, computers, tablets and gaming devices to limit their screen time to two hours outside of work or school. Those planning to watch a three-hour film on their iPad shouldn’t worry too much, though, as the ordinance is non-binding. There will, therefore, be no penalties incurred for higher usage.
Toyoake City Mayor Wants To ‘Prevent Excessive Smartphone Use’
“The purpose is to promote measures to prevent excessive smartphone use from negatively impacting physical, mental and lifestyle aspects, including sleep time,” said Koki. Though not only targeting youngsters, the regulation proposes that elementary school children should not use electronic devices after 9 p.m. Children aged 15 to 18 should turn them off no later than 10 p.m. It all sounds well and good, but with no penalties in place, does the ordinance have any purpose? Japanese free speech activist and politician Zenko Kurishita certainly doesn’t think so.
“Even if someone’s smartphone usage time goes over two hours and becomes three or four hours, there is no problem at all,” posted the former member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on X. “It effectively negates the core purpose of the ordinance. I think they should reconsider issuing the ordinance altogether.” In a follow-up tweet, he added, “What everyone is probably most surprised about is the fact that the administration, while consuming tax money, came up with an ordinance that is so clearly meaningless.”
Several X users agreed with him, including one who wrote that, “There must be a mountain of other things they should be doing.” Others also called the ordinance unrealistic, stating that smartphone use should be a decision for families to make themselves. A non-binding ordinance enacted by Kagawa Prefecture in 2020 sparked a similar debate. It recommended people under 18 limit their video game use to one hour per school day and 90 minutes on weekends and holidays to prevent gaming addiction.
Australia’s Online Safety Amendment Act
Last year, the Australian government passed the Online Safety Amendment Act. According to the legislation, which is expected to go into effect in December, social media companies that fail to take reasonable steps to prevent minors from creating accounts on their services will be heavily fined. French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, recently announced plans to ban social media for children under the age of 15. “Platforms have the ability to verify age. Do it,” he wrote on X.
