Francesca Rudkin: Is it too late for the Aussie social media ban?

Go the Aussies!  

They have drawn a line in the sand and done what no other Government has been brave enough to do. They’re standing up to global social media companies to protect their young people by introducing a social media ban for those under 16.   

The intention is good. The intention is excellent. What parent doesn’t want to protect their young adult from inappropriate or harmful online material? But the legislation is rushed. It was passed just a couple of days after a 1-day inquiry was held to consider 15,000 submissions. So it looks and sounds good, it feels morally right - but is it going to be a nightmare to enforce? 

So far, social media companies such as Meta have agreed to comply with the ban - failure to do so will result in a fine of $50 million  - but they’ve also expressed concern about how it will be enforced. 

If you’ve bought alcohol or a vape online, you’ll know that you simply click a button to claim you’re 18. How will these social media apps confirm a user is legitimate or not? Who knows? But if they do, then hopefully they can put an end to catfishing, hacking, and identity theft while they’re at it.   

I wonder if this is similar to the school phone ban in NZ. It gave schools without a ban the backing to implement one. Is this legislation aimed at giving parents more clout to help them prevent their child from signing onto social media apps - and allowing them to check their phones and devices regularly?  

Most likely. A Horizon Research survey out this week shows 74 percent of over 1500 adults polled say there should be an age limit for accessing social media, with age 16 the most popular threshold for respondents.  

Doing things by the book did work - sort of - in our house. We said no SM until 13 - as recommended by the SM companies - but it probably only worked because our kids weren’t that interested. They were more into group chats on messaging apps - which are exempt from this law. We should definitely be questioning how healthy messaging apps are for young people’s mental health too.  

And this is the problem. Our children are growing up in a new digital world  - be it the internet, social media, or messaging apps - and we’re still learning about the impact.  

So anything that delays the age teenagers are exposed to social media is a good thing, but they will join later and the key is using the extra time before they do to educate them about the positives and perils they will encounter. It's naïve to think that having an age restriction would take away the risk of children seeing harmful content online - and we want them to be good content providers when they do get involved.  

I love that the Aussies are trying to get this bolted horse back in the stable. Governments around the world will be watching to see how it goes. However it turns out, online companies will never take the care we’d like them to.  

So as always it fall on the parents to step up - to get off our own phones, set an example and set some boundaries. Parenting, after all, is only really done well by parents. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News talksb Go the Aussies.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
They have drawn a line in the sand and done
what no other government has been brave enough to do.
They're standing up to global social media companies to protect
the young people by introducing a social media band for
those under sixteen. The intention is good, the intention is excellent.
What parent doesn't want to protect their young adult from
inappropriate or harmful online material? But the legislation is rushed.

(00:37):
It was passed US a couple of days after a
one day inquiry was held to consider fifteen thousand submissions.
So it looks and sounds good, it feels morally right,
but is it going to be a nightmare to enforce.
So far, social media companies such as Meta have agreed
to comply with the band. Failure to do so result
in a fifty million dollar fine, but they've also expressed

(00:59):
concerned about how it will be enforced. Look, if you've
brought alcohol or a vape online, you'll know that you
simply click a button to claim you eighteen. So how
will these social media apps confirm a user is legitimate
or not? Who knows, but if they do work it out,
then hopefully they can put an end to catfishing, hacking
an identity theft while they're at it. I wonder if

(01:22):
this is similar to the school phone ban in New Zealand.
It gave schools without a ban the backing to implement one.
Is this legislation aimed at giving parents more clout to
help them prevent their child from signing on to social
media apps and allowing them to check their phones and
devices regularly. Most likely a Horizon Research survey out this

(01:43):
week show seventy four percent of New Zealand adults they
surveyed over fifteen hundred say they would like there to
be an age limit for accessing social media, and that
age limit is around sixteen. That is the most popular
threshold for the respondents of this survey. Doing things by
the book did work sort of in our house. We

(02:06):
said no to social media until thirteen, as recommended by
the social media companies at the time, but it probably
only worked because our kids weren't that interested. They were
more into group chats on messaging apps, which are exempt
from this law, and we should definitely be questioning how
healthy messaging apps are for young people's mental health too,

(02:27):
And this is the problem. Our children are growing up
in a digital world, be at the Internet, social media,
or messaging apps, and we're still learning about the impact.
Even adults are idiots using some of this stuff at times.
Can we ban them too? So anything that delays the
age teenagers are exposed to social media. It's a good thing,
but they will join later, and the key is using

(02:50):
the extra time before they do to educate them about
the positives and perils they will encounter. It is naive
to think that having an aide restriction would take away
the risk of children seeing harmful content online, and we
want them to be good content providers when they do
get in, so you've got to keep up those conversations.
I love that the Aussies are trying to get this

(03:11):
bolted horse back in the stable when governments around the
world are going to be watching to see how it goes. However,
it turns out online companies will never take the care
we'd like them to, so it is always going to
fall on the parents to step up to get off
our own phone, set an example and set some boundaries. Parenting,
after all, is only really done well by parents For

(03:33):
more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
Listen live to News Talks it Be from nine am Sunday,
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