THE PLAN:
Australia plans to establish a minimum age limit for children to use social media due to concerns over mental health and a decline in kids getting active, angering our youth advocates.Â
Despite concerns about the proposed law, the government is pressing ahead with what many have described as a flawed response to online bulling and a lack of exercise. The view that banning social media will fix these issues is seen as ineffective.
WHY IS THIS NECESSARY?
Limiting a child’s online screen time is not only good for physical well-being but for their mental health. Time and time again we hear the stories of young children being bullied and preyed upon as vulnerable people in our community.
Limiting a child’s access to social media through phones and computers encourages them to find other hobbies and activities that are more physically active. It also allows parents an opportunity to be able to have more involvement in their children’s lives and promote a healthier lifestyle.
Studies have shown that social media use has been tied to poor physical health, with teens who excessively use social media platforms having higher levels of C-reactive proteins (a precursor to diabetes), back pain, chest pain, and headaches. Plus, the age of social media has seen a rise in anxiety and depression — a study showed that teenagers aged 12-15 years old who use social media more than three hours a day face double the risk of having negative mental health symptoms than those who do not.
This alarming statistic underscores the potential risks of social media use for children, fostering a sense of concern and support for the government’s actions.
 ISSUES WITH THE POLICY:
- Enforcement – Many are of the view that the new laws are virtually unenforceable given that users can provide incorrected ages and/or names when creating accounts
- Physical activity – Many have stressed that reduced social media use does not necessarily result in an increase in physical activities. Whilst there is some suggestion that it may, young people may divert their attention to negative unsupervised methods of communication if restricted from access to mainstream social media.
- Censorship of Social Media: Censorship of social media and restricting minors’ access to social media platforms raises questions about how much data the government will be able to access. The Privacy Act 1988 protects an individual’s privacy and regulates how the Australian Government can gather and handle personal information collected online.
The Privacy Act 1988 does the following:
- Tells individuals how their personal information is collected and who it is shared with,
- Allows individuals to access their personal information,
- Allows individuals to correct their personal information,
- Allows individuals to stop receiving direct marketing, and
- Allows individuals to use a pseudonym.
For the Government to ban children under a certain age from using social media platforms, it must receive ‘Consent’, as defined in APP 3.3, to collect sensitive information from an individual.
WHAT WILL BE THE AGE OF RESTRICTION?
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government would test an age verification trial period, which would likely involve a combination of user self-reporting and technological solutions, before introducing the minimum age laws for all social media platforms in 2024.
Whilst the Government has not yet indicated an age, it is expected that it would likely be between 14 and 16 years old.
HAS THE GOVERNMENT FOR THIS RIGHT?
It is a fine balancing exercise but ultimately it seems that there are massive benefits to this law being imposed and protecting our children and promote their wellbeing should be the paramount consideration here. At the end of the day delaying access to social media until the age of 16 is not the end of the world.