Australia's Social Media Ban

Australia's new law banning social media for those under 16 begins soon. Fox News Radio's Jonathan Savage joins us to discuss how this will work and what other countries may follow suit. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I don't know how it was in the Mekida household,
but our kids were the latest to get cell phones
of anybody in their class or sign up for social media,
or at least that's what they told us over and over.
This is West Michigan's Morning News, Steve Kelly, Brett Pakata
Schmidt getting thanks ready for the twenty sixth annual radiothon
for Helen of Os Children's Hospital. It's on Star one
O five point seven at b ninty three Today. Here's

(00:22):
a father on the liveline, Jonathan Savage with Fox News
Radio in London. Let's talk a little bit about what
they're doing. In Australia. Is December ten the day things
start with social media there.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yes, from December tense, there's a day thing start with
social media for under sixteen because it will be banned
for kids in Australia. Just about all the big ones Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, x,
all these things we banned for under sixteen And as
of today, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Thread, has

(00:56):
begun notifying users that their accounts are going to start
to be deactivated. The Australian government says this band will
protect children from harmful content, things like cyber bullying and grooming,
and they're using quite strong language to describe it. The
Australian Communications Minister A Nika Wells saying they'll be protecting

(01:18):
Generation Alpha from behavioral cocaine.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
Well true, wow, notwithstanding the pressure that then kids feel
moving forward to perform in the bad way they feel
about themselves by comparing them. But how do they what
will they do to somehow keep those kids from signing up,
because these days it's just like are U eighteen? You

(01:42):
know for adult sites and you can.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Click yes, yeah, I mean the Australian government understands that
some will manage to get their way around the technology,
they'll get to keep their accounts somehow, and that many
teenagers will in fact be upset. But what they need
to do in many ways is prove their age to
social media companies there with a video selfie, the kind
of thing that can judge your age by scanning your

(02:05):
face or providing driver's license. There are other government issues
IDs and sometimes people's accounts will be taken down even
though they are sixteen, and they will get the opportunity
to appeal to the social media companies. But these social
media companies have a big incentive to make sure that
this ban works because they could face fines of up
to thirty three million US dollars.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
Jonathan, is there anything to the age of sixteen they
determined for you know, Australia. I know, sixteen obviously big
here driver's license in America. But was there anything to that?
Why not? Maybe eighteen or oh.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
That's a good question. Sixteen years old in Australia. Ya.
I mean, all I can say is here in the UK,
sixteen is when you can get married, you can join
the military. I think at sixteen you can't vote or bag. Also,
you're eighteen. Maybe they start drinking at sixteen in Australia.
I'm not sure. I would have explained a few things.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
I know I did, but that's for another another subject.
I know we here in America don't like to be
told what to do, right, We as parents want to
decide for ourselves when our kids are old enough to
use our kids don't want to be told. But listen, man,
we have had story after story about, especially with young women,

(03:21):
how this social media is detrimental to their health. And
I gotta give props to Australia from maybe setting a
trend if we heard could this go to other countries?

Speaker 2 (03:33):
I think other countries are going to be looking really closely.
I know France is looking really closely at this sort
of thing. And in terms of what parents are saying,
I think the Isralian government says parents are asking us
to be in their corner. They can't do it by themselves.
They can't do it without the heft of a law
behind it, because the teenagers will is too strong, the

(03:53):
pool of social media is too strong, and while they
don't expect perfection, they do want governments to try.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah, you as parents are getting them in on it too, right,
You're complicit in this whole thing. Okay, I got off
my soapbox now. Jonathan Savage with Fox News Radio in
London this morning, Thanks for your time this morning.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
Thank you