Young Nationals oppose social media ban
On the 10th of December, young Australians under the age of 16 will be banned from using social media. From that date, they will be unable to set up new accounts, and their existing accounts will be deactivated. While the Young Nationals recognise the risks and the harm that can come to young people as a result of the misuse of social media, we oppose Labor’s ban for the reasons set out below.
ONE Many young Australians, especially those living in regional, rural and remote Australia, rely on social media for connection and community. In denying these young Australians access to social media, these laws risk isolating them from important support networks, friend groups, special interest communities and social circles, threatening to exacerbate the very harm that the ban seeks to prevent. As advocates for young people in regional, rural and remote Australia, the Young Nationals are calling on the Commonwealth Parliament to bin the ban.
TWO The social media ban violates the constitutionally protected rights of young Australians to freedom of political communication. Social media is the modern-day public square, and this social media ban freezes the views and voices of young Australians out of our nation’s public political discourse.
THREE The ban will not prevent young people from using social media; It will only prevent them from using social media legally, safely and under supervision. The ban will only push young Australians to find riskier methods by which to access social media and circumvent the law, leaving them more exposed to dangerous online behaviours, harmful content and predatory actors. The ban leaves Australian children more vulnerable online – not less.
FOUR It is the role and responsibility of parents – not the federal government – to determine how their children should use and interact with technology at home. Under the ban, young Australians will be deprived of important learning experiences, connections and opportunities that are becoming essential to personal and career success in the digital age. While young people around the globe interface and adapt to new technologies and ways of communication, Australian children will be kept in the dark. As an example, popular online news outlet 6 News was built and run by young Australians who, under this ban, would be denied the opportunity to grow their organisation, build their careers and use their initiative and enterprise to create value for Australians, young and old.
FIVE The social media ban will force large international technology and social media companies to harvest massive amounts of highly personal and sensitive information and biometric data to verify the age of social media users. Australians are already highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks and data leaks, and the mandatory surrender and mass-storage of this highly sensitive data will render Australia an even more attractive and vulnerable target for cyber-criminals and bad actors.
SIX The social media ban simply will not address the very real core concerns around harm on social media, including algorithmic addiction, cyberbullying, mental health, echo chambers and disinformation. We are calling on the government to do the hard and necessary work to address these root causes of harm, rather than attempting to use such a blunt instrument as a blanket ban to address the serious and complex challenges of the digital age.
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
Rather than banning young people from using social media, the Government should be focusing on real solutions. The Young Nationals recommend the following policies as means to making social media safe for young Australians, without causing isolation, evasion and, ultimately, further harm.
Recommendation 1: BIN THE BAN.
Recommendation 2: Ensure existing regulations are fit for purpose. Review Australia’s existing social media regulatory framework to ensure that it appropriately addresses the modern social media landscape, with a mind towards reducing harm to young Australians online.
Recommendation 3: Standardise content moderation requirements with a classification system. Like the classification system for movies and tv shows, a classification system creates clear expectations for tech companies on how to moderate their content, in addition to simplifying decision making for parents when deciding whether to allow their children access to certain platforms. Further, this will incentivise tech companies to make their platforms safer for young people in order to broaden their appeal, reputation and user base.
Recommendation 4: Require all devices that can host social media to integrate parental controls. Most devices already have parental control features. However, legislating this requirement catches any outliers and provides an opportunity to mandate specific parental controls. As an example, it may be required that devices include controls that prohibit access to all social media apps of a particular classification.
Recommendation 5: Facilitate public information and education campaigns to raise awareness around the harms of social media and the importance and effective use of parental controls.
There is increasing awareness around social media’s harmful effects on society, however there is more that needs to be done. A national awareness campaign should be implemented to increase awareness of parental controls and how to correctly implement them. Many parents have never used parental controls and may be uncertain about using them, even if they are aware of the harms of social media.
The Government’s social media ban was rushed through parliament with little consultation and will fail to achieve its noble intentions of protecting young Australians online. Those young Australians deserve better.