Didn’t know where to post this but Australia today banned social media for Under 16s.

What does everyone think, I’m leaning towards support for it.

Difficult for me to say but if I was an Aussie teen I'd be pretty pissed off. Not everyone uses social media for nefarious purposes...

I'd have hated it if it was brought in before I was 16. Thankfully social media didn't really take off until I was in my 20's though.

I can see the pros and the cons of it, so I'm kind of pro and anti it really.

I hope it goes well. Some parts are a little heavy-handed but it's a step towards stopping the children experiencing the deleterious effects of social media. I'd perhaps go instead to no access below 13 and limited access in teenage years and combine it with some legislation and/or guidelines to get people to parent their kids without leaving them to get brainrotted by the internet, but one to watch for how it impacts people around the world.

Yeh I def think I veer on the pro ban side as these are literally children and it’ll mainly effect high school kids who are 11-15 who imho should be protected on these sites for all ages.

When they are 16 they are at least a bit more mature. Think a ban to 18 would be too far.

Social media cause so mang issues for teenagers so much so that I’d consider myself pro ban. I never really experienced the damages myself as it wasn’t really a thing until I was 17/18 but it actually has a woeful effect on some adults too.

I think I'm against the ban, simply because ots yet anither thing that teenagers aren't allowed to have just because they haven't hit an arbitrary age. It really annoyed me as a teenager and as a result the remnants of that still linger with me. If social media does genuinely have a negative impact on people's quality of life, maybe they should ban it for the whole population as opposed to the subset that aren't allowed to vote?

Plus, newspapers are already reporting that people are finding ways to get round it. So is the message effectively 'if you want to stay connected with your friends, you need to break the law'?

I like never post in this section because I tend to not be articulate and (intricately) knowledgeable enough about news stories and issues, despite reading news and trying to remain somewhat informed. I also just get overwhelmed easily lmao.

That said, my current thoughts on this particular issue are mostly just that I find it sad that it 'has to' come to that. It shows how lowkey brainwashed we are as a society. Not everyone uses social media the same way of course, but I think the FOMO element of social media (which I have struggled with previously too) is something that kinda needs to be addressed more in my opinion, maybe on a more individual level. I also just wish more people used social media in a more honest, genuine and compassionate way. But that's just me, I sort of think most people don't really care about that. But I would say if that were the case a bit more, it would make a positive and humane difference on both individual and societal levels.

I work in a college and misinformation and misuse of social media for negative means is absolutely rife even at just age 16, the police had to get involved in one case as it got to the point where it was a risk of them even leaving the house, I couldn't count the the amount of harassment and feuds that occur online that spills into the classrooms and forms rifts. I can't show anything but support for this, even if there'll clearly be ways around it for them, it will also help that real-online world balance that we all need and is harder than ever for this generation growing up with screens all around them from the day they were born.

If you’d been around it, as Chez mentions, you’d understand better why people would be for the ban. I can’t go into any of it but seriously the things I’ve seen/had to deal with.

I do think they’re probably attacking the wrong problem. If children are to use social media then I think it’s on the parents to monitor their use of it. It’s an absolute safeguarding nightmare but there is currently no system in place to ensure parents take responsible action for their child when it comes to social media. Given that a lot of parents abuse it as badly if not worse than their children.

12 hours ago, PeteFromLeeds said:

I think I'm against the ban, simply because ots yet anither thing that teenagers aren't allowed to have just because they haven't hit an arbitrary age. It really annoyed me as a teenager and as a result the remnants of that still linger with me. If social media does genuinely have a negative impact on people's quality of life, maybe they should ban it for the whole population as opposed to the subset that aren't allowed to vote?

Plus, newspapers are already reporting that people are finding ways to get round it. So is the message effectively 'if you want to stay connected with your friends, you need to break the law'?

I think the platforms included in the ban are generally those that promote algorithms and therefore "content" to children, rather than those that enable messaging. Things like Youtube, Reddit, TikTok, Twitter and Twitch are banned, Discord and Whatsapp aren't.

Of course there's an argument that you might make for banning those too, but I'm pleased they haven't gone that far, those apps actually do work for social interaction with friends whether met in person or online.

Obviously lots of content on Twitch/Youtube/TikTok especially has been aimed at young people, but in a somewhat predatory aspect (kids have time to spend hours in less than ideal ways on these sites). Good way to limit their influence.

Honestly ridiculous. Like you can get around it easily and by upright banning it you're gonna cause teens to seek it out even more. Restrict access yes but outright ban can't agree with that.

I'm on the fence about it. What sways me toward 'remove' is how social media is now used as a broadcast tool to the world more so than a tech solution to keep up with people you are already connected to from irl.

I think banning Youtube is absurd, I often found that more helpful than teachers when I was a student.

43 minutes ago, Dobbo said:

I think banning Youtube is absurd, I often found that more helpful than teachers when I was a student.

And yet teachers are always the ones left picking up the pieces when social media goes wrong for these kids.

Are they completely banned from YouTube? Or just from having a YouTube account? Because that’s a big difference.

Youtube kids is allowed

banning snapchat but not discord is WILD

It's clear that people working with children and young adults are supportive of a ban, or at least some restrictions. As another member working with children, I am all too familiar with the harm that social media can cause. There are, of course, many young people using social media responsibly, However, I have to support an age restriction although I'm not sure I'd put as high as sixteen. There is supposed to be a minimum age of thirteen, but that isn't really applied.

Na they can't ban tik tok how will starter know if he down with the kids

I love this. In general Australia / New Zealand really push forward with their protections... wasn't it so... that people cannot even buy cigarettes there anymore... there is also some extremely strict rule about that (for younger people).

Social media caused so much harm to younger people. I am a teacher, I see the impact that that has on their mental states every single day.