TRANSCRIPT
"Hi there, students. It's the prime minister here, and I want to speak to you directly about something very important, from December 10, if you're under 16, you're no longer allowed to have a social media account, you'll know better than anyone what it's like growing up with algorithms, endless speeds and the pressure that can come with that. That's why we've taken this step to support you. Above all, make the most of the school holidays coming up, rather than spending it scrolling on your phone, start a new sport, learn a new instrument, or read that book that has been sitting there on your shelf for some time, and, importantly, spend quality time with your friends and your family, face to face."
That's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announcing the under 16's social media ban.
The ban currently includes Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and six other social media platforms, with the list expected to grow.
From now on, social media platforms will face penalties of up to $49.5 million if they do not take "reasonable steps" to prevent children and teenagers aged under 16 from holding a social media account.
e-Safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant says there will be early challenges, but non-compliance won't be tolerated.
"There will be teething issues, and kids will be ingenuitive (ingenious), and they'll find their ways around it, but the way that we're looking at compliance and enforcement is around systemic failures, and I 100% believe that these companies have the technical capability to achieve this, and they may have come into this kicking and screaming, but now it's time for them to show us their stuff. We have to work with the platforms and make sure that they're continuing to innovate and improve. But again, if we see blatant non-compliance, or if we're challenged in court around our notices or any enforcement action we take, we'll take each step as it comes."
Shadow Minister for Communications Melissa McIntosh says the Coalition is loosely supportive of the ban but is concerned about the use of the Digital ID system.
She says they are concerned the biometric data within the digital ID framework is vulnerable to security breaches.
Minister McIntosh finds it disappointing the government is proceeding with the digital ID system despite its earlier vagueness about adopting it.
"The Minister for Communications and the e-Safety Commissioner have started putting this sort of language in quite recently, around: messy. It won't be perfect. Please be patient. Well, they should actually just get it right. The platforms have to be held to account, and this is another part of the concern, and sorry, to put a bit of a damper on the day is around, they've told me that they will compel people to use digital ID and the minister saying they're not. But this is very personal information. Driver's licenses, birth certificates going into data centres offshore. So yes, we do support the intent, let's protect kids and let's get them off social media. But we can't forget all the mechanisms along the way, and ensuring that it does work the way it should do.”
So, how are teenagers feeling about the ban?
Videos are already being disseminated by some kids on how to bypass the ban, offering tips such as squinting your eyes during the digital ID photo verification.
"If you're living in Australia and you're under 16, stay. Everybody else leave. Gone, shoo, shoo, get out of here. All right, they gone? Hi. So, what you got to do to get past the social media ban? When it finally comes around to get past the facial scan, all you got to do, just do this. I don't know why it worked, but it did. That worked for me for Snapchat. I'm not sure if the different apps use different use different facial scanning, but that did work for Snapchat, so hopefully it'll work for everything else. All right, good luck, everybody."
Some kids, like Barika, are worried they won't be able to stay in touch with family and friends from around the world.
"I feel a bit upset about it, because now I can't communicate with relatives overseas, and this has deeply affected me and I feel like I use Snapchat and messenger a lot, and since they have both not being banned it's kind of like breaking my relationship up, and that kind of hurts my feelings. I talk to them on Snapchat and Messenger. I use Snapchat for my cousins and messenger for like, grandparents, uncles and aunties."
Twelve-year-old Dorotea believes the ban will limit her creative expression because she uses social media platforms to make videos and art.
"I don't know how to explain it. It's just basically where you import, like, photos and videos, change the text, and it's like, then it then it kind of creates a video. I don't know how to explain it that well, without sounding weird."
Not everyone is upset.
Flossie, another twelve-year-old, says she spoke with neuroscientist Dr Lila Landowski who explained to her how malleable the adolescent brain is.
"It's a time when we're more likely to take risks, act on impulse and be shaped by the world around us. Social media is designed to take advantage of that. Every like, every notification, every short video releases dopamine. It keeps our brains hooked, even when it doesn't make us happier or healthier. For developing brains, that constant dopamine drip can actually change the pathways we rely on for focus, self-control and emotional resilience."
Communications Minister Anika Wells claims the number of deactivated accounts indicates the ban is already a success.
"We already know today, more than 200,000 TikTok accounts have deactivated. We're going to see hundreds of 1000s across the next few days and weeks, and we're measuring that through writing to the platforms tomorrow, we're saying, what were your numbers on the ninth of December? of December, what we in from the 11th of December and we're going to ask them every month to make sure that downward trend is happening."
