They are neither technophobes nor nostalgic for another era. But they have all made the same decision: no social media for their children, not now and not anytime soon. They have faced tears, accusations and comments from those around them. Speaking to Le360, they explain why they made that choice, how they enforced it and, above all, what it has changed.
In Morocco, how many parents are still standing up to TikTok and Instagram? According to a survey by the Moroccan Center for Polytechnic Research and Innovation, cited by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) in its opinion on children’s digital environment, 80% of people aged 8 to 28 regularly use the internet and 70% use social media.
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The report confirms what many had already suspected. Nearly one in two young people either sleep poorly or see their grades decline, while cyberbullying and data breaches are also taking their toll. But the parents interviewed did not wait for these statistics before making up their minds.
Samira, 45, a mother of three children aged 13, 15 and 17 in Rabat, did not make the decision on a whim. It all began when her eldest entered the second year of middle school. “The pressure from peers became intense, and the requests to have an Instagram account became a daily occurrence,” she recalls.
Together with her husband, she first took the time to look at what was happening around them, among their extended family and their children’s friends. “We took the time to observe the behavior of children around us, and the pattern was obvious: lack of sleep, declining academic performance and constant irritability,” she says.
“We decided to introduce a strict rule and categorically refused them access to these apps,” she explains. But to avoid cutting their children off from the outside world, the couple found practical compromises. “We chose a basic phone without internet access for when they are out, along with a family computer placed in the middle of the living room and used exclusively for school research,” she says.
But did the rule hold? “The first few months were marked by negotiations and accusations, but staying consistent eventually paid off,” Samira says. “Today, our children have developed independence in their learning, read regularly and prepare for their exams without the constant distraction of notifications. They eventually created a reading and chess club with other children from the neighborhood,” she says with a smile.
When a computer engineer says no
In Tangier, Karim, 39, the father of two girls aged 11 and 14, speaks from experience. “As someone who works in computer engineering and is also an avid reader, I am well aware of the psychological mechanisms and algorithms specifically designed to capture young users’ attention and create addiction. There was no way I was going to leave my daughters defenseless in front of these tools,” he says.
Was it easy to get them to accept it? Karim does not pretend otherwise. “When my eldest turned 12, refusing to let her have Snapchat led to tears and a feeling of exclusion from her classmates, who spent their evenings on it,” he acknowledges. Rather than give in, the family invested elsewhere, both in time and money. “We chose to invest heavily in their real interests. We enrolled them in the music conservatory and a swimming club, and we organize outdoor activities every weekend,” he says.
For Meriem, 48, the mother of a 16-year-old boy in Marrakech, “the turning point came when we learned that a student at my son’s school had been the victim of a serious case of cyberbullying after photos of her were misused on Snapchat.”
Read also : Addiction, manipulation and parents losing control: Why Morocco should ban social media for minors
“That incident devastated the family. My husband and I immediately set firm boundaries: no personal account on any social media platform would be allowed,” she recalls.
That did not mean isolating him from his friends. Meriem carefully distinguishes messaging, which she sees as a tool for coordination, from social media, which she views as a space for public exposure. “We have not cut our son off from the modern digital world because we understand the importance of communication among young people. He has access to WhatsApp on a shared phone, solely to organize his sports activities or group projects.”
Omar, 42, the father of three children aged 9, 12 and 14 in Agadir, has made the ban on social media one of several principles at the heart of a deliberately simple family life. In practical terms, the home has been organized accordingly. “We chose not to have a television in the living room, and electronic devices are completely banned on weekends until late afternoon,” he says.
“We have always focused on explaining things to them and teaching them about the value of privacy and the dangers of screen addiction,” he says. The time freed up has found other uses, far from another screen.
“Instead of spending their afternoons scrolling through short videos, my children have learned to surf, they paint and they are learning DIY projects with me,” he says.
The mistake with the eldest, a lesson for the youngest?
Latifa, 50, the mother of two daughters aged 15 and 18 in Casablanca, openly admits that she made a mistake the first time around. “With our eldest daughter, we made the mistake of giving her access to social media at the age of 12, thinking it was part of her natural development,” she admits. The consequences soon became apparent.
“We quickly saw her mental well-being deteriorate: a drop in self-esteem, an obsession with her physical appearance, sleep problems and a sharp decline in her grades. It took us months of dialogue and support to gradually help her break free from this dependence and close her accounts,” she regrets.
“Having learned from that painful experience, we adopted a zero-tolerance policy for our second daughter. The ban was established from the outset as a non-negotiable rule to protect her well-being. The difference between our two daughters at the same age is striking. The younger one is growing up with much greater self-confidence, without the constant need to seek validation from strangers. She spends her free time drawing and playing sports, away from the unrealistic standards promoted by these platforms,” she says.
What Meta has just acknowledged
In their own ways, these parents anticipated what regulators are only now beginning to impose. In mid-August, amid ongoing legal proceedings, Meta agreed to pay up to $17 billion and restrict Instagram and Facebook for teenagers across around 50 U.S. states and territories under an agreement reached with their attorneys general, which some have compared to the landmark 1998 tobacco settlement.
Read also : UN urges tougher social media safeguards for children after Meta settlement
In practical terms, the company has committed to limiting social media use to two hours a day for users under 18 and blocking access between midnight and 6 a.m., with only a parent able to relax these settings. Texas subsequently announced its own agreement, worth more than $1 billion and including similar restrictions, bringing the total amount to more than $18 billion. TikTok, Snap and YouTube, which were also named in the agreement, were called on to make similar commitments.
The following day, Brussels called for similar measures for European minors. “It is now up to the company to offer these commitments within the European Union so that our children here can also be protected,” said European Commission digital spokesperson Thomas Regnier.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk welcomed the agreement while calling for rules covering the entire sector. “Children should not have to wait for legal action to be taken before they can safely navigate online,” he said, urging governments to “take the lead rather than wait for courts and companies to act.”
