Go the Aussies!  

They have drawn a line in the sand and done what no other Government has been brave enough to do. They’re standing up to global social media companies to protect their young people by introducing a social media ban for those under 16.   

The intention is good. The intention is excellent. What parent doesn’t want to protect their young adult from inappropriate or harmful online material? But the legislation is rushed. It was passed just a couple of days after a 1-day inquiry was held to consider 15,000 submissions. So it looks and sounds good, it feels morally right - but is it going to be a nightmare to enforce? 

So far, social media companies such as Meta have agreed to comply with the ban - failure to do so will result in a fine of $50 million  - but they’ve also expressed concern about how it will be enforced. 

If you’ve bought alcohol or a vape online, you’ll know that you simply click a button to claim you’re 18. How will these social media apps confirm a user is legitimate or not? Who knows? But if they do, then hopefully they can put an end to catfishing, hacking, and identity theft while they’re at it.   

I wonder if this is similar to the school phone ban in NZ. It gave schools without a ban the backing to implement one. Is this legislation aimed at giving parents more clout to help them prevent their child from signing onto social media apps - and allowing them to check their phones and devices regularly?  

Most likely. A Horizon Research survey out this week shows 74 percent of over 1500 adults polled say there should be an age limit for accessing social media, with age 16 the most popular threshold for respondents.  

Doing things by the book did work - sort of - in our house. We said no SM until 13 - as recommended by the SM companies - but it probably only worked because our kids weren’t that interested. They were more into group chats on messaging apps - which are exempt from this law. We should definitely be questioning how healthy messaging apps are for young people’s mental health too.  

And this is the problem. Our children are growing up in a new digital world  - be it the internet, social media, or messaging apps - and we’re still learning about the impact.  

So anything that delays the age teenagers are exposed to social media is a good thing, but they will join later and the key is using the extra time before they do to educate them about the positives and perils they will encounter. It's naïve to think that having an age restriction would take away the risk of children seeing harmful content online - and we want them to be good content providers when they do get involved.  

I love that the Aussies are trying to get this bolted horse back in the stable. Governments around the world will be watching to see how it goes. However it turns out, online companies will never take the care we’d like them to.  

So as always it fall on the parents to step up - to get off our own phones, set an example and set some boundaries. Parenting, after all, is only really done well by parents. 

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