May 10, 2022 Release of Survey Report on Parental Control over Use of Internet by Youth in Japan

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) conducted a survey on parental control over the use of the Internet by youth in Japan and compiled a report on the survey results (survey commissioned to the Center for Global Communications (GLOCOM), International University of Japan).

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  Parental control: Practice by which the use of the Internet by youth is properly controlled by their parents according to their developmental stage and in light of their life cycle. It consists of technical features, such as filtering functions (including customization), and non-technical features, such as development of rules at home.

1. Background and details

Along with the rapid advancement of digitalization in society as a whole and the progress in the installation of digital devices at schools under the GIGA School Project, the use of the Internet is becoming essential for youth in their social life and school life. Accordingly, it is becoming increasingly important for parents to exercise parental control over the use of the Internet by their children according to children's growth stages and status of use of the Internet.
Based on this understanding, MIC conducted a survey on the actual conditions of parental control in Japan, focusing on the following: (1) risks arising from the spread of the use of ICT among youth and necessary measures to cope with such risks; (2) analysis of the actual conditions and best practice of parental control according to children's growth stages and status of use of ICT, appropriate filtering services and parental control services, successful cases and frequently used services; and (3) the actual conditions of parental control and effective initiatives to raise awareness of parental control among parents.
The survey was conducted through interviews with 20 persons who were parents of youth and one private company, a questionnaire survey targeting 6,500 persons who were parents of youth, and an experimental survey targeting 500 persons who were parents of youth (survey commissioned to the Center for Global Communications (GLOCOM), International University of Japan).

2. Materials published

Results of the Survey on Parental Control over Internet Use by Youth in Japan

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  The published material is in Japanese only.

3. Points of survey results

(1) Major findings

• Children who have rules at home and use filtering services and those who have rules at home but do not use filtering services were noticeably more unlikely to be involved in trouble than those who neither have rules at home nor use filtering services, whereas those who have no rules at home but use filtering services did not show such tendency.
• Among all homes surveyed, 37.1% do not have any rules at home. Preschool children and high school students had a fewer number of rules at home. On the other hand, parents whose children were in younger groups wanted to know more about rules at home, showing a greater need for rules at home.
• One form of trouble in which young people are likely to be involved, although their parents are not much concerned about, is that they sent or received sexual selfies to or from people whom they became acquainted on the Internet, or met such people in person and were (or were about to be) sexually violated.
• Among the filtering services, the most frequently used was "Web filtering function" (76.2%), followed by "App filtering function" (45.8%) and "Setting or limiting the time when the smartphone can be used" (40.8%). Most parents considered the "Function of notifying the parents of in-app purchases" to be useful.
• More than 30% of the surveyed parents were willing to use filtering services for fees. Among others, the function to enable parents to easily remove the filtering on individual apps that they want their children to use, the function to enable parents to check their children's browsing history, and the function to enable parents to check the messages exchanged by their children on social media were popular services; the parents were willing to pay 70 yen or more per month on average.
• About half of the surveyed parents did not check the recommended or targeted user age of the apps. If parents told their children to observe the recommended or targeted user age of the apps, the children were very unlikely to be involved in trouble.
• Most parents do not understand the functions of filtering services, and the effects and settings of filtering services are not yet widely known.
• When asked about the reason for not customizing filtering services, the most frequent answer was "I did not know filtering can be customized" (44.3%), followed by "I did not know how to customize them" (27.6%).
• In connection with filtering services, parents who place importance on the function to switch the filtering on and off with a single touch accounted for more than 70% among parents of preschool children and those of lower grade elementary school students, and also accounted for 60% of the total.
• In the case of parental control services that are offered based on the concept of "protecting children by allowing them to use the Internet" rather than "keeping children away from the Internet," more than 90% of parents continue to use the services one year after starting to use them.

(2) Major policy implications

• In order to reduce the number of young people involved in trouble when using the Internet, it is effective to promote the introduction of filtering services, while concurrently raising awareness of the necessity of rules at home.
• Enhancing the awareness-raising initiatives targeting parents of children in younger age groups will bring about a large policy effect.
• It is effective to give priority to information that is greatly needed among parents, while providing examples of settings of filtering services.
• It is necessary to raise awareness of the importance of observing the recommended or targeted user age of the apps.
• It is necessary to provide easy-to-understand information on how to customize the settings of filtering services.
• As there are homes where the same device is used by children and parents, it is hoped that services that enable users to easily switch the filtering services on and off will be developed.
• It is necessary to provide opportunities for education and dialogue for youth to make them aware of risks, rather than letting parents merely control the use of the Internet by their children.