Australia is taking on powerful tech companies with its under-16 social media ban, but will the rest of the world follow? The country’s enactment of the policy is being watched closely by politicians, safety campaigners and parents. A number of other countries are not far behind, with Europe in particular hoping to replicate Australia, while the UK is keeping more of a watchful interest.
Europe
Denmark has said it will ban social media for under-15s, with the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, saying mobile phones and social media are “stealing our children’s childhood”. The policy could become law next year.
Norway is bringing in a minimum age limit of 15. The prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, has said the country must protect children from the “power of the algorithms”.
Ireland is introducing a digital wallet to verify the age and identity of social media users. The media minister, Patrick O’Donovan, said this month an Australia-style ban was “one of the things that we are holding in reserve”.
In Spain, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called on parliament to pass a bill raising the minimum age for using social media to 16.
In France, the president, Emmanuel Macron, has threatened to ban social media for under-15s and a parliamentary commission has also recommended such a move, including an overnight “digital curfew” for 15- to 18-year-olds.
The government in the Netherlands, meanwhile, has advised parents to block their children from social media until they are 15.
In the EU, the European parliament has passed a non-binding resolution, demanding under-16s be banned from using social media unless their parents decide otherwise. The resolution warned of the “addictive” nature of social media but is non-binding, meaning it will not become law. The EU already has legislation that enshrines digital safety in the form of the Digital Services Act, but an appetite remains to take oversight further.
The Danish MEP behind the resolution, Christel Schaldemose, said she would continue to push for continent-wide regulation, although that ultimately requires a three-way cooperation between member states, the EU parliament and the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm.
The MEP said she was “not giving up” until tougher regulations were in place. “A strong age limit is a good starting point,” she said.
Ursula von der Leyen, the commission’s president, has promised to establish a panel of experts who will advise on the best approach for protecting children. Announcing the panel in September, she said parents were drowning in the “tsunami of big tech flooding their family homes”.
UK
In the UK the Labour government has not ruled out a ban, saying “nothing is off the table” but any ban must be “based on robust evidence”.
Last year momentum gathered behind a private member’s bill (legislation proposed by an individual lawmaker, not the government), imposing restrictions on under-16s using social media. But the bill was ultimately watered down, albeit with a government commitment to research the issue further.
The Molly Rose Foundation, a charity established by the family of Molly Russell, a teenager who killed herself after viewing harmful online content, is concerned that an age ban would do nothing to make social networks safer. It said this week that teenagers living under an under-16 ban could face a “cliff edge” of harm on unregulated platforms when they turn 16.
Australia’s blanket ban for under-16s has the tech barons on edge. Will other countries follow suit?
Peter Malinauskas, the 45-year-old premier of South Australia and father of four children aged ten and under, was at home with his wife. She had just read the final page of The Anxious Generation, the psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s best-selling book about the dangers of social media to young people. “I will never forget one night, she finished the book, she turned to me and she said: ‘You better bloody do something about this,’” Malinauskas recalled.
The democratic world’s first social media ban began in Australia on Wednesday.
It prevents anyone under the age of 16 from opening a social media account, while existing accounts have been deactivated. Anthony Albanese, the prime minister, gave his full-throated endorsement. “I’ve had the sombre experience of meeting with mums and dads who have seen their child’s wellbeing crushed by the worst of social media, many living with the devastating pain of losing a child,” he said. “We’re doing this for those parents and for every parent.”
The reactions have been mixed. Many teens are outraged at being barred from their favourite apps. Social media companies have deployed AI, face scans and even required photo IDs to verify or remove users who fell below the new threshold. However, some have managed to stay online, by either lying about their age, making up aliases or finding other ways to circumvent the crackdown. Two High Court cases have been brought: the first by two teenagers who have claimed the ban infringes on their human rights; the second by Reddit, one of the ten tech companies affected.
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https://www.thetimes.com/uk/social-media/article/health-crisis-australia-ban-under-16s-xh5c378sh