Australia Bans Social Media for Under-16s

The Australian Senate has approved new legislation that would ban under-16-year-olds from accessing social-media services by late 2025. The government says that exposure to social media can harm young people but it is not clear exactly how the ban will work.

The legislation passed by the Senate is guaranteed to also be passed by the House of Representatives, where Anthony Albanese's government holds a majority. But critics say the legislation has been rushed through and puts the responsibility on social-media companies to verify the age of both users who want to open new accounts and existing account-holders.

It is not clear, though, how this can be done. The legislation specifies that social-media companies will not be able to insist on government-issued ID such as passports and driving licences to protect privacy. A likely other option would be face-recognition technology which is supposed to be able to judge a person's age.

Protecting Young People
The government  says it wants to protect vulnerable young people from dangers such as cyberbullying and pressure to have a particular appearance, as well as addiction to social-media apps. Opposition parties also supported the ban. Opposition communications spokesperson David Coleman said the legislation was in response to data showing that the mental health of Australian children, particularly girls, has, "deteriorated badly over the past decade."

Many parents agree, and hope that an official ban will make it easier to resist pressure their children, and through them the parents, feel to "be like everyone else" and get a social media account. ABC interviewed Dani, from Melbourne, who told them that she believed social media sites used many tools which are designed to stop children disengaging or leaving the app. When she was worried about chat groups her 13-year-old son had joined on Snapchat, she asked him to leave the chats. "He was in tears, because when you remove yourself, it says '[they] have left the chat', and you feel a bit ashamed as a kid, leaving that social circle and having that announcement," she said.

Listening to Young People
While some mental-health professionals back the ban, others point out that social media isn't only a danger, it can be a way for young people to reach out for help. Particularly those in remote communities or from minority groups.

Climate activist Anjali Sharma is now 19, but when she was 13 she started an Instagram account to share infomation about climate change that turned into a youth movement.  It led to her co-organising Australia's contribution to the School Strike for Climate, when 300,000 young people joined protests. She told ABC News, that social media was, "How we reached people in our generation and that's how we let them know what we stood for and that there's a chance for people who care and think in similar ways to get involved."

Nicola Palfrey, Head of Clinical Leadership at the youth mental-health foundation Headspace says she thinks, “We underestimate young people. We’ve done surveys of thousands of young Australians, and they do tell us that they’re aware they’re probably on their phones more than they should be, they can get distressed by content they can see. They’re very aware of those sides of it, but they also are saying to help us manage it, help us educate ourselves.”

As for any prohibition, many experts believe there is a risk that teenagers will either find away around the ban, or be tempted to use less mainstream sites that the authorities have not identified.