TRANSCRIPT
Three parents of teenagers lost to the harms of social media have taken their stories of loss, right to the office of the Prime Minister.
Among the group was Mia Bannister, who lost her son Ollie last year, when he was 14.
“This restriction, while specific to account creation is a good starting point. We won't stop pushing for real, meaningful reform. Together we made change happen, and together we will keep going. Thank you.”
The Federal Government this week banned children under 16 from creating a YouTube account.
That's after the platform was initially spared from a broader social media ban.
Communications Minister Anika Wells says she made the decision after receiving advice from e-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.
“The evidence cannot be ignored that four out of ten Australian kids report that their most recent harm was on YouTube. As parents we are really trying our best when it comes to the internet, but it is like trying to teach your kids how to swim in the open ocean with the rips and the sharks compared to at the local council pool. We can't control the ocean, but we can police the sharks.”
She says under-16s can still access YouTube Kids.
“There is a place for social media. There is no place for predatory algorithms, and that's what we're cracking down on. There is no cure, but this is a treatment plan, and this is too important for us not to have a good crack at it.”
While these parents hailed the move, others see it differently, like Leo Puglisi, who started 6 News while he was in primary school.
“Broadly it does restrict the access of teenagers from getting news and information. And that's not just from 6 news, that's from other outlets who post their information online. They're getting that from traditional outlets often from one way or another. They might not be watching TV, they might not be listening to the radio, but they're seeing it online. This ban just cuts that off or at least it seems to be attempting to do that.”
Youtuber Grace Mulgrew says the ban could impact the number of viewers she'll reach.
“Potentially my videos won't get recommended as much, because people who are using their parents' account, I'm sure they're going to be getting content that their parents are watching as well. So maybe it could impact the way that our videos are recommended, especially if you're an up-and-coming Youtuber too, it's going to be really hard to try and establish an audience if you're trying to target a younger audience.”
The ban also facing criticism inside Parliament House, including from Deputy Opposition Leader, Ted O'Brien.
“There's no doubt that the safety of children has to come first. What's curious is the government did not make it clear to the Australian people its intent before the election. Now its changed its mind.”
The Greens Communications spokeswoman is Sarah Hanson-Young.
“It's delulu to think that Google will just do the right thing. They need to be forced to do it, and that means a legislated enforceable duty of care and to be licenced.”
YouTube's parent company Google was this week scheduled to host a major event in Parliament's Great Hall, but it was postponed out of respect to the grieving parents.
Earlier this week, Google had threatened legal action against the government.
A spokesperson for YouTube says the site is a video-sharing platform, not social media, and will consider its next steps.
Digital Rights Watch Founder Lizzie O'Shea, says the government's announcement today was a missed opportunity.
“I absolutely think there's a role for government here to regulate large technology companies from a safety perspective. The question is what form should that take? An outright ban has these technical problems which I think can be distracting from other reforms. The key reform I think the govt should progress at this stage is bold privacy reform. That attacks the underlying business model that gives rise to a lot of these negative design features.”
The ban will come into effect from December 10.
