Children, TV, and Screens: Lack of Regulation / Multimedia Editor's Analysis

The Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) released the results of its report on children's audiovisual consumption in Colombia, a tool that provides insight into television, internet, and screen usage trends among children and young people between the ages of 3 and 17.

The findings are overwhelming: cell phones are the most used device, and digital content is the most consumed, surpassing traditional TV . Sixty-one percent of children own cell phones, spending nine hours of content on the weekdays and 7.2 hours on weekends.

Traditional television, in second place, captures 6.1 hours of viewing. Seventy percent of minors access content from the internet, while 45 percent consume content exclusively from television.

If we contrast the poor media literacy of parents and teachers (14 and 25 percent, respectively), we are faced with a reality: the internet and social media are now the primary means of training, education, and pedagogy for our children and adolescents, the place where most of the content and messages that largely shape their personalities are consumed.

The question therefore arises: Is media regulation adjusted and optimized for this reality? Do the internet, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc., have the same controls, oversight, requirements, and standards that private and public television currently have?

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It's clear that the playing field is uneven. While television must comply with audience quotas, content regulation, and abide by sanctions and fines, digital media, which actually boast the highest ratings and consumption, don't have the same conditions. It's self-regulation and each platform's own individual measures that prevail in the absence of unified and common regulation across the entire audiovisual ecosystem.

This discussion is urgently needed. Not only for the care of our children, but also for a fair competitive framework for the Colombian audiovisual industry, cultural and news managers, who are currently experiencing a difficult time, on top of playing on an uneven technical and financial playing field.

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