There have been consistent controversies about the impact that social media platforms are having on our youth. Since there have been little or no efforts by the companies to limit the use of the platforms to adults, children who are capable of going on-line can have the exact same exposure as adults. The impact of some of the messaging to young kids has had some very difficult consequences to those children.
Recognizing this, the Australian Parliament recently passed legislation that will not allow children below the age of 16 to hold accounts on platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram. The fines for violation range up to $50 million Australian dollars to these companies.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the law supported parents concerned by online harms to their children.
“Platforms now have a social responsibility to ensure that the safety of our kids is a priority for them,” Albanese told reporters.
Opposition Sen. Maria Kovacic said the bill was not radical but necessary. “The core focus of this legislation is simple: It demands that social media companies take reasonable steps to identify and remove underage users from their platforms,” Kovacic told the Senate.
“This is a responsibility these companies should have been fulfilling long ago, but for too long they have shirked these responsibilities in favor of profit,” she added.
Although there remain many details that have not been worked out, this is a landmark event that is attempting to help concerned parents find protection for their young children from some of the consequences that have caused such heartache and even personal harm to those children and their families.
I am sure there will be protests, struggles with the implementation of this legislation and much wrangling with the organizations that own these internet platforms. This is an unprecedented attempt by the legislative body of an entire country to find ways to control the access of young children and teenagers to sites that can be harmful to them. There are many issues to work out, but at least there is a serious reckoning with the potential harm of some of these platforms on young minds.
It will force these platforms to be more proactive in their approach to the youth of Australia and will set the stage for more discipline and social responsibility of these companies. It will be something to watch as it is implemented, and hopefully the impact will be positive in the protection of our kids. Perhaps it will launch a global initiative of new levels of social responsibility by our social media sources.
Gerry Vassar
President/CEO
