November 9th 2024.
The impact of early exposure to social media has been a growing concern in recent years, and the issue has once again come into the spotlight as the federal government takes steps to address it. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced this week that proposed legislation will be introduced to parliament, aiming to ban children under the age of 16 from using popular platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X, even with parental consent.
Age limits for social media use have been in place since the early days of these platforms. For example, Facebook has always required users to be at least 13 years old. However, the effectiveness of these age limits has been called into question. Will the promised legislation actually be successful in keeping younger children off of social media?
Other countries have attempted to address this issue by implementing strict age bans, with varying degrees of success and failure. In 2015, the European Union introduced legislation that banned children under the age of 16 from accessing any online service without parental permission. However, after facing backlash, the law was amended to allow individual EU countries to decide whether or not to enforce it. The UK responded by keeping the age limit at 13 for children to access social media, while France took a different approach by requiring parental consent for anyone under the age of 15.
In South Korea, a "shutdown law" was passed in 2011 which restricted children under 16 from accessing gaming sites after midnight. However, this law was not very effective as children found ways to bypass it by using accounts in other people's names.
Similarly, in the US, different states have their own laws regarding social media use for minors. Some, like Ohio and Florida, require parental permission for minors to use social media. In 1998, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act was passed, which required websites and online services to obtain parental consent before accessing personal information of children under 13. However, this law proved to be ineffective as some platforms simply banned children altogether, leading to mass online fraud.
Norway is also set to enact a strict minimum age of 15 for social media use, following a government campaign against social media giants. However, there are concerns about the effectiveness of relying on parental consent. Most social media platforms simply have a checkbox for users to confirm their age and whether or not they have parental consent. This raises concerns about young people accessing social media in secrecy, without adequate safety measures in place, and potentially turning to less regulated and dangerous platforms.
In response to these concerns, some experts argue that social media companies should bear the responsibility of enforcing age limits, rather than parents or guardians. Under Australia's proposed ban, platforms like Facebook and TikTok would be held accountable if underage users were found to be using their services.
Other countries have also explored online censorship to protect children. In China, guidelines were published in 2023 proposing a ban on young children accessing the internet on mobile phones between 10pm and 6am. Brazil and India have also passed laws restricting digital companies from accessing personal information of children.
However, some experts argue that blanket bans for underage kids may not be the best solution. They suggest that these bans may lead to unintended consequences such as increased isolation for teenagers and pushing them towards unregulated and potentially harmful platforms. They also point out that for marginalized communities, social media can serve as a lifeline for connection and support. Instead of blanket bans, they propose that tech companies should develop better tools to help parents educate their children about safe social media use.
In the end, it remains to be seen how effective Australia's proposed legislation will be in addressing the issue of early exposure to social media. Only time will tell if this approach will be successful in protecting children from the potential risks associated with social media use.
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