As reported last week, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese proposed banning access to social media for children under 16, a move that would constitute one of the toughest restrictions on social media social outside of authoritarian regimes around the world. Australia has campaigned tirelessly in recent years to combat some of the serious risks posed by social media, and the aim of protecting young people is certainly understandable. However, the proposed new law goes too far and should not be seen as a model for similar action here in the Philippines. Rather, it should be seen as a conversation starter for ideas about effective and practical protections that could be implemented here.

Under the Australian measure, social media companies would be responsible for preventing young people from accessing their platforms and would have to be able to demonstrate that they “take reasonable steps to prevent access”, or risk being punished. fines and other sanctions. Once signed into law, the new law would give social media companies a one-year grace period to develop the necessary controls to comply.

Unsurprisingly, the proposed new restrictions have attracted some criticism, although Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, issued a statement of support saying it would “respect any age limit the government wishes to introduce”. This pleasant stance came with a caveat, however, as Meta’s head of security warned that the law needed to be carefully drafted to avoid unintended consequences.

Other critics of the new measure have pointed out that the law could be difficult to enforce, as age restrictions on social media platforms are generally more noted for their unreliability and the ease with which they can be circumvented only for their real effectiveness. Others fear that identity and age verification procedures that social media platforms might implement could infringe on the right to privacy. Youth advocates have also expressed concerns that the new restrictions could prevent adolescents from accessing mental health services and could interfere with education, as social media is used in various ways in school curricula .

Multiple threats

Supporters and critics of increased restrictions on access to social media seem to agree that there are many threats that need to be addressed, but disagree on how the problem should be addressed. addressed. Anyone who uses social media is potentially exposed to misinformation and uncontrolled information, fraudulent activity, cyberbullying, digital security threats, and all manner of offensive and inappropriate content and behavior. Young people, who are curious, impressionable and spend a lot of time online, are more likely to experience harm.

It is difficult to strike the right balance between appropriate regulation in the interests of public safety while preserving the right of access and choice, and we believe that Australia’s proposed new law, however well intentioned- it does not really solve the problem at the root. The real problem is not that young people have access to social media, but rather what they are exposed to once there. Any measures our government could take to better protect young social media users must be approached from this perspective.

It must also be considered that a regulatory measure that is difficult to apply is in some way worse than no measure at all because it encourages illicit behavior. This probably applies even more to young people, who may find the challenge of circumventing restrictions irresistible.

We recommend that two ideas be carefully considered by our own regulators. First, each of the social media platforms has its own rules when it comes to age restrictions and content moderation. A reading of these various rules suggests that if they were applied precisely and consistently by the platforms themselves, much of the risk to users – of all ages – could be eliminated. The government should explore ways in which it could implement a system of monitoring the implementation of social media platforms’ own policies; for example, setting up a hotline where users can report complaints they have made to social media providers so that responses can be monitored. Additionally, the government should review the extent of social media use by schools and impose some limits on it. Access to social networks should be a user choice and not an obligation.