Australia

Australia Moves to Toughen Teen Social Media Ban

Is this a bold step to protect kids or a failed policy that lets Big Tech off the hook?

Published JUN 26

Australia Moves to Toughen Teen Social Media Ban

Story

Above: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the House of Representatives in Canberra on May 12. Image credit: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images

The Facts

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday confirmed that the government is working to strengthen the country's social media ban for under-16s, following comments by eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant earlier this month.
APH
ABC News
The Nightly
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Grant described the ban as a "very blunt force approach," its legislation as "very thin scaffolding" and alleged she lacked any "potent powers," at a time when the commission is investigating Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube for non-compliance.
The Sydney Morning Herald
eSafety Commissioner
Acknowledging her concerns, Albanese told Parliament that strengthening the social media ban was a government "priority" to ensure that "Australians are in charge" of social media rather than the "unaccountable" companies that operate it.
APH
The prime minister also framed the proposed Digital Duty of Care — which the government claims will prevent "serious online harms" — as the next step beyond the existing ban, stating, "we are going to need to do more, and that's what the digital duty of care is about."
APH
Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts of Australia
Justifying the additional legislation, Albanese pointed to the alleged effects of algorithms, which he attributed to driving individuals to "more and more extreme [political] positions," as well as a spike in hospital presentations and documented sexual violence linked to online content.
APH
The remarks come as a study by Australia's University of Newcastle revealed that more than 85% of Australians aged 12 to 15 were still using social media three months after the ban took effect, with two-thirds of underage users bypassing restrictions by self-declaring an age over 16.
BMJ

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Pro-government narrative

Australia's social media ban was a bold and necessary move to protect children from online harms. However, more needs to be done to stop dangerous algorithms and platforms, along with their damaging consequences, in their tracks. The Australian government is committed to strengthening the existing ban while extending protections even further under a new digital duty of care.

Anthonyalbanese

APH

Government-critical narrative

Despite the government's best intentions, it is irrefutable that the social media ban has been a flop, with the vast majority of under-16s remaining on major platforms. If anything, age-gating policies have only exacerbated the issue, as they have let tech companies off the hook for their extractive, algorithm-driven business models, thereby preventing reforms that would build a genuinely safer digital space.