Australian authorities are planning to introduce a minimum age at which social media use will be permitted. They explain that this is dictated by concerns about the impact of social media on children's mental and physical health. “I want to get kids off their phones and see them on the playing fields, swimming pools and tennis courts,” the Australian prime minister said.
Prime minister Australia Anthony Albanese told ABC on Tuesday that his government plans to introduce legislation to parliament later this year to introduce a minimum age for using social media. He suggested it could be between 14 and 16, but a specific decision has not yet been made.
Social media ban for children
“I want to get kids off their phones and see them on the playing fields, swimming pools and tennis courts,” the prime minister said. “We want them to have real experiences with real people because we know that social media is causing social harm,” he added. According to him, parents are very concerned about the impact of social media platforms on their children. “No generation has faced this challenge before. The safety and physical and mental health of our young people is paramount,” Albanese said.
According to the head of government, the planned regulations should be introduced uniformly across the country. A few days ago, the state of South Australia proposed introducing such a ban for children under 13.
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Doubts about the ban
But the government's announcements have raised questions about how the law would be enforced and which platforms it would cover. There have also been concerns that its introduction could backfire. Some experts warn that it could lead to children's activity being moved to other, uncontrolled areas of the internet, including the dark web. “This risks doing serious harm by excluding young people from meaningful, healthy participation in the digital world, potentially driving them into low-quality spaces online,” said Daniel Angus, director of the research centre at Queensland University of Technology.
By restricting children’s social media use, Australia would become one of the first countries in the world to do so. The country has one of the highest online populations, with about four-fifths of its 26 million people using social media platforms.
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