Regulatory Approaches to Content Governance in Social Media: Protecting Children and Adolescents in the Digital Environment
Document Type : Original Article
Author
- Assistant Professor, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/jlsm.2025.729665
Abstract
Social media, as one of the most widely used digital tools, has provided vast opportunities for children and adolescents. However, it has also introduced significant risks, including exposure to inappropriate content, privacy violations, deceptive advertising, and misuse of personal data. In response, countries have sought to protect children from the harms of the digital space by adopting various media regulatory models. This study, using a comparative and analytical approach, examines the regulatory frameworks for child protection in social media and evaluates Iran’s approach in this domain. The findings indicate that countries primarily employ four key regulatory models: state regulation, self-regulation, co-regulation, and multi-level regulation. Iran's regulatory strategy aligns more closely with the state regulation model, which has increasingly become a traditional framework for media governance. However, challenges such as a lack of coordination among regulatory bodies, weak enforcement of age classification regulations, insufficient production of appropriate content, and the absence of tailored digital environments—in addition to difficulties in monitoring foreign platforms—have hindered the effective implementation of child protection policies in Iran. Based on these findings, this study suggests that Iran's regulatory framework should transition toward a hybrid structure that incorporates elements of both co-regulation and multi-level regulation. Such an approach would allow the preservation of local values while also leveraging international best practices. Legal reforms, enhanced cooperation between the government and media companies, strengthened content production and infrastructureand improved media literacy for parents and children are among the key strategies thatcould make social media regulation in Iran more effective.
Keywords
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