Social media ban: will Australia’s new age rules work?

“Social media is hurting our children and I demand time from them.”

That’s what he said AustraliaToday the Russian Prime Minister announces proposals for the world’s first legislation to ban children under 16 from attending social media.

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

Subscribe to Week

Leave your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE

Sign up for the free newsletter of the week

From our morning news briefing to our weekly Good News newsletter, get the best of the week straight to your inbox.

Australia’s youth are among the most connected in the world, with around 97% using social media across an average of four platforms. Nearly two-thirds of Australian parents of teenagers express concerns about this, according to a 2024 survey by youth mental health service ReachOut. “Parents want their children to stop using their phones and go to the football field. Me too,” Albanese said in September.

More than half of Australians feel lonely every week, according to a survey of more than 4000 people aged 16 and over by the Medibank Loneliness Population Index. And among single young people aged 16 to 24, social media was the “top answer” to why, says Herald of the Sun. More than 40% of this age group said that viewing other people’s posts at social events “makes them feel isolated.” More than half (58%) of all respondents aged 16 to 24 supported banning children under 16 from using social media.

Enforcing it will also be “extremely challenging,” said Lisa M. Given, professor of computer science at RMIT University, in an article about Talk. Checking all existing accounts to verify age is a “technological nightmare.” The ban would also not “force social media companies to remove harmful content.” This will “give parents a false sense of security while denying young people access to important information” such as current events, politics and potential employment.

The plan also has a “blind spot,” he said. Reuters. Experts say age restrictions could deprive migrants, LGBT+ and minority youth of needed “social support”. For young refugees, this can mean “losing direct contact” with family in their home country. It may even exacerbate the very problems it seeks to combat: the ban could increase feelings of loneliness and isolation among young people with mental health problems, many of whom turn to social media for support. “The ban is pretty much the opposite of what we would recommend,” said Amelia Jones, associate professor of digital media at the University of Technology Sydney.

And frankly, Reuters reports, it won’t work. No attempts to enforce age restrictions anywhere in the world have been successful, “due in part to access to virtual private networks (VPNs)” that hide users’ location and information. An age verification study in France, which passed a law last year requiring parental consent for social media users under 15, found that “almost half of the country’s teenagers can use a VPN.” Software that allows users to bypass YouTube’s identification requirements has reportedly been downloaded millions of times.