John MacDonald: Social media ban gets no likes from me

You know what the Government should do with this recommendation from a parliamentary select committee to ban under-16s from using social media? Ignore it.

With the Government thinking about copying Australia’s ban, a select committee has looked into it and it’s come back with a whole lot of recommendations relating to the online world - including a recommendation that we go ahead with a ban.

The committee says: “Harm to young New Zealanders from online platforms is severe and requires urgent responses.”

The key word there is “harm” and, as the ACT Party is saying today, banning under-16s from social media won’t fix that.

The Greens are opposed to the idea too - with both parties saying it could just lead to kids using what they’re calling “fringe websites”, instead.

So the harm will still be there and the kids will keep finding it, whether-or-not there’s a social media ban.

As to why I’m against this idea. Number One: the horse has already bolted. Number Two: the horse is going to keep on bolting. Because that’s what happens in the online world and the technology world.

If politicians think banning kids under-16 from Tik Tok and Insta and YouTube is the answer, they’re dreaming.

What’s more, if we’re totally honest with ourselves, a social media ban would just let parents off the hook.

Those parents at the supermarket, pushing their kids around in the trolley, and the kids all staring at screens - should the government be coming to their rescue because they either can’t be bothered or are too weak to say no?

Of course not.

Experts from Queensland University think banning under-16s from social media is a pipedream.

They say there is insufficient evidence to show social media is responsible for the increase in youth mental health problems. They say some marginalised young people actually benefit from social media. Example: I remember hearing someone who works with young members of the rainbow community saying that social media can be really valuable for the kids he works with.

These researchers in Australia also say there is a lack of clarity as to what social media actually is.

Nevertheless, a bunch of politicians who are already way behind the 8 ball on this think a social media ban for under-16s is the way to go.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Do you know what the government should do with this
recommendation from a Parliamentary select committee to ban under sixteens
from using social media? You know what does you do
with it? Ignore it? Bennett? I mean, depending how much
time you got, I can give you as many reasons
as you want as to why this is a dumb idea.

(00:34):
I'll come to those in a second. You're probably well
aware of what's going on. The government is thinking it
can copy what they're doing in Australia to try and
get the kids off TikTok and Insta and all the
other social media channels, and so what's happened has got
a Select committee to look into it. They said, oh, yeah,
you go look into it. We like this idea, but
you go look into it. And it's come back with

(00:56):
a whole lot of recommendations relating to the online world,
including a recommendation that we go ahead in New Zealand
with this social media ban for under sixteens. Or quote
aligned from the committee's report, it says quite harm to
young New Zealanders from online platforms is severe and requires

(01:17):
urgent responses. End of quote. Now the keyword there is harm.
And as the ACT Party is saying today, banning under
sixteens from social media won't fix that, won't get rid
of the harm. The Greens are opposed to the idea too,
with both parties saying and this is the harm bit.
Both parties are saying that this could just lead to

(01:38):
kids using what they're calling fringe websites instead, so the
harm will still be there and the kids will keep
finding it whether or not there is a social media band.
As to my reasons why I'm against this idea, well,
number one, the horse has already bolted. I think you
know what I mean there. I don't need to elaborate

(01:59):
on that one, doll we Number two, the horse is
going to keep on bolting because that's what happens in
the on line world and the technology world. And if
these politicians think banning kids under sixteen from TikTok and
insta and YouTube, I mean, if they think that's the answer,
well they're dreaming, because especially with AI now part of

(02:22):
the equation and becoming more more of the equation by
the day, kids will just they just make up their
own social media platforms. They'll get onto the bot and say, hey,
we can't use insta make us something, remembering too that
the problem with social media isn't social media itself, it's
the people who use it. What's more, if we're totally

(02:42):
honest with ourselves, a social media ban would just let
parents off the hook, wouldn't it. You know those parents
at the supermarket, you know the ones I'm talking about,
pushing their kids around in the trolley, little kids staring
at the screens. Should the government be coming to their
rescue because they either can't be bothered or or a
two week to say no, of course not, course not.

(03:05):
And don't just listen to me. Listen to experts from
Queensland University who say banning under sixteens from social media
is a pipe dream. They say there is insufficient evidence
to show that social media is responsible for the increase
in youth mental health problems. They say that some marginalized
young people actually benefit from social media. Example, I remember

(03:27):
hearing someone who works with members of the Rainbow community
saying that social media can actually be really valuable for
the kids he works with. They can connect with each
other with like minded people on social media, and these
researchers in Australia. They also say that there is a
lack of clarity as to what social media actually is.
For example, what about WhatsApp groups? You're part of the

(03:49):
family WhatsApp group chat? What about that? Is that social media?
Do we ban that? Nevertheless, a bunch of politicians who
are already way behind the eight ball on this. They
think of social media ban for under sixteens in New
Zealand as a way to go I don't are you?

Speaker 1 (04:07):
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