The WA Social Media Ban
The Australian Government’s world-first Social Media Minimum Age law came into effect on the 10th of December last year. Specific social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube (full list here) are now required by law to take reasonable steps to prevent Australian children under 16 from having an account on their service.
Jon Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation and his advocacy have been highly influential in this space. He’s just visited Europe encouraging political leaders to follow Australia’s lead (more here), and expects several nations to do so (with Indonesia and France in the lead).
Is it worthwhile? I believe so.
Social science can’t deliver certainty, but concerns about impacts of social media on young people are not trivial and have a fair amount of evidence behind them. For example, we see widespread associations with increased sleep deprivation, anxiety, depression, body image difficulties, mental health hospitalisations, sexualisation of children and associated harmful behaviours, and decreases in in-person socialisation, physical activity, and healthy risk taking.
Yes, social media also offers benefits, there’s no one-size-fits-all circumstances, and technological advancements are not inherently bad, but there’s a lot of smoke here.
A key responsibility of government is to protect its citizens. Food, water, product and building safety, medicines, roads, crime, gun control, air quality etc – these are beyond the scope of individuals and families to manage independently. There’s a crucial regulatory role for government. I believe the same applies for particularly harmful online services and content. Naturally, we also want governments to deliver such protections in the least restrictive and intrusive way possible, allowing for as much personal choice, freedom and privacy as possible. This is a classic tension in politics.
Will it really make a difference anyway? I think so.
You don’t have to look hard to find people under 16 who still have access to social media accounts. No single approach is a silver bullet. However, access to 4.7 million accounts was reported to have been removed in the first half of December alone (esafety). More than that, I’m hopeful this law will help shift culture (towards starting on social media at older ages) going forward for younger children and future children coming through. A formal evaluation will in time also provide research findings on the effectiveness and impact of the law on children and families.
All the best to all in parenting land out there. For those interested, there’s lots more about the social media restrictions here.
Luke Smith | Psychologist (Secondary)