This week we discuss the Australian Government’s plan to make 16 the minimum age to access social media.
The plan has broad political support and resonates with many concerned parents, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.
We discuss the specifics of how the ban will be implemented (with key elements not yet solved and potentially problematic), and interrogate the underlying philosophical approach of banning social media for kids rather than seeking to make the platforms less harmful for everyone.
Links:
PM media release on ban https://www.pm.gov.au/media/minimum-age-social-media-access-protect-australian-kids
Article about parliamentary inquiry into social media (Guardian) Australian parliamentary inquiry stops short of backing social media ban for under-16s https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/18/australian-parliamentary-inquiry-stops-short-of-backing-social-media-ban-for-under-16s
Open letter from researchers arguing against the ban https://au.reset.tech/uploads/ACRT-Open-letter-re-social-media-bans.pdf
Article about eSafety Commissioner’s lack of public support (Crikey) https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/11/19/teen-social-media-ban-esafety-commissioner-julie-inman-grant/#:~:text=When%20Prime%20Minister%20Anthony%20Albanese,in%20rolling%20out%20the%20ban.
Listen now
Transcript
This is an automatically generated transcript. We make our best efforts to check that it is an accurate reflection of the episode, but it may contain some errors and unedited content.
