Social Media Age Limits? The Least of our Problems

In this economic and political climate, the most pressing thing we can think of is the age of Australians accessing social media?

Of ALL the things?

I am a seasoned social media marketer, who’s been using the channels to promote businesses for the past 13 years, so believe me when I tell you I know the kind of behaviour that can be experienced there.

Inappropriate content, grooming, bullying, scams, hate, bigotry…no denying it exists.

But you know where else it exists? Other online spaces (video game chat rooms, mums? Amiright?). And you know where else? In the real world.

This proposed legislation feels to me like a pearl-clutching overreaction to an issue that should be managed by parents and children on an individual level – and one that seems like a distraction in order to make the social media giants and their owners the bad guys to shift the blame from the government’s inability to keep children safe.

And I’m not the saying social media platform’s very wealthy owners aren’t bad guys (at least one comes to mind who certainly is) and could do better to create safe spaces for all their users…

I just don’t believe this is a space for the government, or that banning this is going to be effective.

Here’s a couple of LinkedIn posts from people who have probably articulated this better than I have:

Won’t Somebody Think of the Children!

In my opinion, solving the housing crisis and keeping families safe from domestic violence would be the two items top of the list, if youth safety was the end goal this legislation is looking to tackle.

Closely followed by improving the delivery and accessibility of mental health services.

It seems such a privileged view that banning social media for people under 14 takes the lead, when having a roof over their heads and being safe from violence are fundamental challenges young Australians face every day.

Many countries have introduced restrictions on mobile phone usage in classrooms and during school hours, which may be an option in Australia, if kerbing teems use of social media – and the internet in general, is another level that can be pulled before we get to government oversight.

Don’t forget that many of these same children have been used as content on their parent’s social media channels since they were born. Will the ban apply to adults posting content of children? Unlikely. But arguably that puts them just as much in harm’s way.

And these kids the ban will affect are more digitally savvy than older Australians, having grown up completely online and navigate the space with maturity and awareness of the pitfalls.

To blanket ban them as a group as they’re coming into their adolescence will stop them documenting their hobbies, building audiences around their passions, and communicating with their online networks – many of which offer support they don’t get in real life.

I just wonder what problem this is meant to solve?

And banning things? Yeah that always works.

Need Resources?
Australia has the world’s first eSafety Commission who are dedicated to keeping Australians safe online, and have many services and resources devoted to children.