Who wouldn’t support a minimum age for social media users if its motivation is protecting the minds of vulnerable young people? There are plenty of examples of horrific bullying resulting in self-harm, as well as ample research to show how kids’ minds can be adversely affected.
The issue is what’s called a “barbecue stopper” in politics – a topic that distracts ordinary people from what they were discussing and starts a fresh conversation
According to a Guardian poll in October, cost of living is the top concern of Australians by a country mile. Not talking about inflation is an attractive idea when you’re a government without the ability to do much about it.
National Cabinet’s endorsement of an age mandate on Friday – strongly backed by Premiers from South Australia and New South Wales – was no surprise. The commitment by the Opposition to have a law passed as early as next week was.
Our finest bureaucratic minds will have 12 months to build a plan to make this ban work – and they’ll have their work cut out.
The UK has implemented age-assurance legislation but is still to decide how it will work. Allowing banks or mobile phone providers to confirm a user is over 18, using facial recognition and asking users to upload a photo to the site that is then matched with official photo ID are all on the table.
Just like an underage kid sneaking into a nightclub to drink, you’d have to think that all of these can be worked around. Facial recognition? Even heard of Artificial Intelligence?
So, here’s an idea: Take politics and polarising/demonised figures like Zuckerberg and Musk out of the equation and ask if mandating age limits for something already in everyday use is practical.
Then look at a paper by researchers from the Black Dog Institute, published in the Medical Journal of Australia last week. It pointedly asks whether increasing social media use is causing more youth mental health problems or if rising trends in youth self‐harm have other causes.
It goes on: “Restricting young people’s access to social media could impede pathways for help‐seeking. This complexity highlights the need for a considered approach.”
Laws that can’t be enforced are as useful as an anonymous Tweet and arguably more harmful when policymakers misread the potential for unintended consequences.
Craig Regan, Senior Account Director, Primary Communication