Australia to Introduce an Age Ban for Children Using Social Media
Kanako Mita and Michiyo Tanabe
Modern Tokyo Times
Australia – similar to other nations being concerned about the impact of social media on children and young teenagers – is to introduce an age limit.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insists that the influence of social media is a “scourge” for the younger generation.
He said, “We want them to have real experiences with real people because we know that social media is causing social harm.”
Albanese continued, “I want to see kids off their devices and onto the footy fields and the swimming pools and the tennis courts.”
However, if Albanese – and other nations are to succeed – then technology needs to be upgraded. If not, age verification is easy to bypass.
Samantha Schulz (University of Adelaide – Senior Sociologist) said, “However, young people are not the problem and regulating youth misses the more urgent task of regulating irresponsible social media platforms. Social media is an unavoidable part of young people’s lives.”
Lee Jay Walker (Modern Tokyo Times analyst) says, “Digital rights advocates are warning that children might be driven to underground online activity that is more extreme – and less monitored. Accordingly, the leader of Australia must weigh up the situation and listen to all sides before sweeping reforms are implemented.”
Australia is concerned about the impact of X (Twitter), TikTok, Facebook, and other social media platforms for the content they tolerate – and the manipulation of information to harmful published material.
Other concerns include social media bullying to mental health issues.
The leader of Australia seeks the ban to be introduced on children aged between 14 and 16.
Albanese prefers the “higher limit.”
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