Australian Social Media Summit Hears Calls for Ban

Last week, politicians, researchers and experts gathered for a social media summit in New South Wales and South Australia. The purpose of this Australian social media summit was to propose strategies for minimising harmful impacts on young people and combatting disinformation and online hate.

These issues are by no means exclusive to Australia, but the country’s decision to hold a summit is a key indicator that the government is taking these threats very seriously. The biggest headline to come from the Australian social media summit was a proposal to ban children from using social platforms. Let’s find out more.

What Was Discussed at the Summit?

The Australian social media summit attracted figures from a wide range of sectors and specialities. Policymakers, researchers, healthcare workers and digital professionals were present, as were a number of young people to offer a different perspective. At the top of the agenda was the impact social media is having on young people and how this damage can be mitigated.

A number of topics were discussed across the two days of the summit. These included cyberbullying and online hate, the increasing threat of radicalisation and the spread of disinformation. US author Jonathan Haidt spoke at the summit and called for the Australian government to ‘slay the social media monster’ to safeguard the country’s young people.

Social Media Ban

Australia has approximately 24.55 million social media users, representing a significant majority of the population. Among children, research has revealed that over one-fifth of 8-10 year olds use social media, as do up to 46% of 11-13 year olds.

With such enormous numbers, tackling the issues caused by social media will be a mammoth task. Given the volume of content published online and the number of users active on digital platforms, stopping the problems at source would be nearly impossible. Instead, the Australian government has opted to go in the other direction, banning children from social media in an effort to protect them from potential harm.

How Will the Ban Be Implemented?

While exact details of what the ban would entail remain unclear, certain aspects were revealed at the Australian social media summit. First of all, the government intends to roll out the ban by the end of 2024, and policymakers confirmed that the responsibility for verifying the age of online users will rest on the social media companies themselves, rather than children or their parents.

While the age at which the ban is imposed remains unconfirmed, some believe it could be as high as 16. The exact mechanism through which user ages are verified is also yet to be disclosed, but will no doubt require an effective and robust age verification solution to ensure the ban is upheld.

Conclusion

The introduction of a social media ban was the biggest headline to come from the Australian social media summit. Such drastic measures will have a profound impact across the industry and will affect both social media companies and the end user alike. Social media firms will have 12 months to comply with the new rules and must adopt and integrate effective age verification tools to ensure they meet the new regulations.