The Australian Social Media Ban and Why it Doesn’t Work

In my opinion, social media bans do not usually work unless more drastic measures are taken by the government and social media companies to enforce it.

In Australia, the government has chosen to ban social media for children under the age of 16. All their accounts would be disabled, and they would be unable to create new ones. This was done to increase online safety for children, but I personally think that it did not achieve its intended goal

My first point is that most kids still have access to some of their accounts after the ban. According to research done by the Molly Rose Foundation, 61% of Australian 12-15 year olds still have access to one or more social media accounts after the ban.

Additionally, children can still view content on social media without an account. For example, video platforms such as TikTok and YouTube do not require an account for use. Although it may seem that if children don’t have accounts then they are safe from harm, they can still look up disturbing or dangerous content. Without accounts, users are barred from doing specific actions (liking, commenting, using the site’s direct messaging system), but they are still free to watch and search whatever they like.

Finally, children and parents are not punished for infringing the ban. The kids could use a VPN, or lie about their age, and still not be punished. Instead, the companies behind the social media app are fined up to A$49.5m. According to BBC, the government says firms must take “reasonable steps” to keep kids off their platforms, and should use multiple age-assurance technologies.

I call on social media companies to try to make their platforms safer for children by improving moderation and safety standards.