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

Umito November 7, 2024

“Social media is hurting our children, and I’m putting a stop to it.”

So said Australiathe Prime Minister of Australia today, announcing proposals for world-first legislation banning children under 16 from social networks.

Anthony Albanese’s proposal would also not exempt children under 16 already on social media – they will not be allowed to use Instagram, TikTok or YouTube even if they have parental consent – as concerns grow worldwide over the threat of cyberbullying and predatory grooming, alongside potential side effects social networks on the minds of young people And emotional health. The government will present a law to Parliament by the end of the year, and a ban will come into force 12 months after the law is passed, Albanese said, putting the onus on tech companies to enforce it.

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More than half of Australians feel lonely every week, according to a survey of more than 4,000 people aged 16 and over by Medibank’s Loneliness Population Index. And among lonely young people aged 16 to 24, social networks are the “main answer” to this question, said the Herald Sun. More than 40% of this age group said that seeing other people’s posts at social events “triggered their feelings of isolation.” More than half (58%) of all respondents aged 16 to 24 support banning under-16s on social media.

Its application will also be “extremely difficult”, said Lisa M. Given, professor of information science at RMIT University, in an article on The conversation. Reviewing all existing 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 preventing young people from accessing important information” such as current affairs, politics and potential employment.

The plan also has a “blind spot,” said Reuters. Experts say age restrictions could deprive migrants, LGBT+ and minority youth of essential “social support”. For young refugees, this could mean “losing a direct line” to their family in their country of origin. It could even exacerbate the very 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 help through social media. “The ban is the opposite of what we recommend,” said Amelia Johns, associate professor of digital media at the University of Technology Sydney.

And frankly, Reuters said, it won’t work. Attempts to impose age restrictions around the world have failed, “in part because of 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 “nearly half of the country’s teenagers could use VPNs”. Software that allows users to bypass YouTube’s login requirements has reportedly been downloaded millions of times.

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

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

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