Australia explores banning social media for kids below 16. What are the concerns?

Governments across Australia are considering a ban on social media for some young people to shield them from harmful content and the negative effects of excessive online activity.

The premiers of New South Wales (NSW), Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia are collectively advocating for higher age minimums on tech platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, following numerous campaign by many organisations.

Currently, users must be 13 to create an account, but this requirement is often easily bypassed. While many experts support increased regulation of social media and highlight its risks to young minds, few believe a ban could be safely enforced while ensuring data and personal privacy, reported The Guardian.

What premiers from different states & territories have proposed?

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, believes the appropriate age limit for social media should be 16. He noted, “There’ll be a lot of 16-year-olds where that isn’t old enough, to be honest with you, when you consider what you’re exposed to as a result of being on social media.”

Despite advocating for this change, Minns expressed uncertainty about its enforceability at the state level and emphasised the need for a unified national approach. To address these concerns, he announced that NSW would host a social media summit this year to explore ways to protect children and teens from online harm.

Queensland’s premier, Steven Miles, has suggested an age limit of 14 for social media use.

Victorian premier Jacinta Allan is calling for a national response, citing social media’s role in exacerbating antisemitism, racism, and gender-based violence.

She stated, “We need to hold these global social media giants to a better standard. Social media platforms already set minimum age barriers; it’s time these were raised, or time Australia sets its own because social media isn’t going anywhere.”

In South Australia, premier Peter Malinauskas announced that his state could consider social media bans for individuals under 14 and require parental permission for those under 16.

Where does the Australian PM stand?

Australian PM Anthony Albanese has supported the idea of banning children from registering social media accounts until they are 16, citing the serious damage that excessive online engagement can cause to their mental health. The PM advocates raising the minimum age for social media registration from 13 to 16 to allow teenagers more time to develop without the pressures of online social interactions.

“What we want is our youngest Australians spending more time outside playing sport, engaging with each other in a normal way and less time online,” Albanese told Nova FM radio on Tuesday. “And one way to do that is through restrictions on social media.”

He noted that the often-vicious commentary on social media can also be harmful to adults and even more detrimental to children.

“It can be devastating,” Albanese said, adding, “I don’t look at the comments on my social media because, if I did, I’d find it difficult to leave the house in the morning. People will say things anonymously that are terrible.”

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has also supported the age verification for social media “It’s difficult to make the case for children under the age of 16 being on social media, especially when we’ve seen the harmful effects that it can have on our children,” he says.

Will it be a nation-wide ban?

Despite a few premiers suggesting their states could implement changes independently, some experts argue that modifications to age verification systems should be enacted at the national level.

Dr. Belinda Barnet, a senior lecturer in media at Swinburne University, believes that state-based geo-located blocks would be extremely challenging, if not impossible. “It would make a lot more sense if it was a national decision, but I’ve got some reservations,” she told The Guardian, indicating that such a move would necessitate legislative changes in Canberra that tech companies would need to enforce.

David Coleman, the opposition communications spokesperson, states that while it is encouraging to see premiers advocating for action, age verification is a federal matter “What’s happening now is completely unacceptable and age verification is the way to address it,” he says. “It’s very clear this is a commonwealth power, so we need the commonwealth to act.”

Are there any concerns?

Another major question is whether it would be possible to implement a system that users could not circumvent and that would not compromise personal data.

This month, the Australian federal government pledged $6.5 million for an age assurance trial to evaluate the effectiveness of technologies designed to verify the ages of social media users. This trial was recommended by the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, in March of last year.

Speaking to The Guardian, Barnet expressed concern that a policy change might result in Australians having to provide sensitive documents to platforms to prove their age.

“We need a third-party solution mainly because it’s a really bad idea to give identity documents to any of the platforms,” she says. “They’re just the wrong custodians for that sensitive information.”

She also raises privacy concerns, noting that people might no longer be able to use social media anonymously.

Samantha Floreani, the head of policy at Digital Rights Watch, emphasises that children and young people need to participate in modern life, which increasingly takes place online. She warns against creating additional harm in the process of attempting to reduce it.

“Attempting to prevent young people up to the age of 16 from accessing social media entirely is not an appropriate or proportionate solution to issues related to online harm and is likely to run into serious implementation and workability issues,” she told The Guardian.

Also Read: Who is Frank McCourt, the US billionaire trying to buy TikTok ‘for the people’?

“Plenty of young people rely upon social media to express themselves, form communities and find support, and banning them may have significant negative consequences.”

Also expressing concerns about the risk to privacy, Floreani says, “Most social media sites already require a user to be over 13 to register an account – although this obviously does not function very well."

“In order to enforce it more strongly, platforms would need to implement more strict age verification processes, which would likely raise serious privacy risks.”

What have social media platforms said?

TikTok has asserted that the safety of younger users is a top priority, highlighting that accounts registered to users under 16 are automatically set

“[This] limits who can follow the account, view their videos, read their bio, and interact with their videos,” a spokesperson told The Guardian.

“We also have a Family Pairing feature that allows adults to link their TikTok account with their teen’s account. This gives them control over the teen’s account settings, including how much time they can spend online, and the type of content they can see.”

Upon registration, social media sites typically require users to provide a birthdate and do not allow individuals under 13 to register. However, this requirement is easily bypassed. Companies like Meta use additional methods to identify younger users, such as analysing behavioural patterns, like the pages they follow and the content posted around their birthdays.

In Australia, Instagram has implemented an age verification system where users can confirm they are over 18 by uploading an ID, using a video facial age estimator, or having another over-18 account vouch for them.

Also Read: Why Chinese social media companies are cracking down on posts that show off wealth

During a previous UK parliamentary inquiry on online safety in 2022, Meta stated that the age limit of 13 struck the right balance.

“As per our terms, we require people to be at least 13 years old to sign up for Facebook or Instagram. Our approach to understanding a user’s age aims to strike a balance between protecting people’s privacy, wellbeing, and freedom of expression.”

With inputs from agencies