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Social media ban: Will Australia’s new age-based rules really work?

Harry November 7, 2024

“Social media is harming our children and I don’t make time for it.”

he said so AustraliaToday, the Prime Minister will announce the world’s first legislative proposals banning children under the age of 16 from going to school. social media.

Anthony Albanese’s proposal also does not exempt children under 16 who are already on social media. will not be allowed Using Instagram, TikTok or YouTube even with parental permission as concerns grow worldwide about the threat of cyberbullying and predatory grooming potential adverse effects social media young people’s mental And emotional health. Albanese said that the government will submit the law to parliament by the end of the year and that the ban will come into force 12 months after the law is passed, and that he will put the responsibility for implementing the ban on technology companies.

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97% of young people in Australia use social media on an average of four platforms and are among the most connected young people in the world. Almost two-thirds of Australian parents of teenage children say they are concerned about this issue, according to a 2024 survey by youth mental health service ReachOut. “Parents want their kids to stay off their phones and play on the football field. So do I,” Albanese said in September.

More than half of Australians feel lonely every week, according to Medibank’s Loneliness Population Index survey of more than 4,000 people aged 16 and over. And among lonely young people aged 16-24, social media was stated to be the “best answer” to the question of why. messenger of the sun. More than 40 percent of those in this age group said seeing others’ posts at social events “triggers feelings of loneliness.” More than half (58%) of all respondents aged 16-24 supported banning under-16s from accessing social media.

Implementing this would be “extremely challenging”, Lisa M. Given, professor of information sciences at RMIT University, said in an article on the subject. Speech. Going through all available accounts to verify age is a “technological nightmare.” The ban will also do nothing to “force social media companies to remove harmful content.” This will “give parents a false sense of security while denying young people access to important information such as current events, politics and potential employment”.

The plan also has a “blind spot” Reuters. Age restrictions could leave immigrants, LGBT+ and minority young people without basic “social support”, experts say. For young refugees, this can mean “losing the direct line” to their families in their home country. It could even worsen the problems it aims to combat: a ban could increase feelings of loneliness and isolation among young people with mental health problems, many of whom access support through social media. “The ban is pretty much the opposite of what we’re recommending,” said Amelia Johns, associate professor of digital media at the University of Technology Sydney.

And frankly Reuters said it wouldn’t work. Attempts to impose age restrictions have not been successful anywhere in the world “due in part to access to virtual private networks (VPNs) that hide users’ locations and information.” An age verification trial in France, which last year passed a law requiring parental consent for social media users under 15, found that “almost half of the country’s teenagers can use a VPN.” The software, which allows users to bypass identification requirements on YouTube, has reportedly been downloaded millions of times.

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Social media ban: Will Australia’s new age-based rules really work?

Harry

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Social media ban: Will Australia’s new age-based rules really work?

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