Australia defends teen social media ban after study shows most still online
The eSafety study painted a sobering picture. It found that children aged 10 to 15 were using social media just as frequently in March as they had before the ban came into force on December 10
Australia's government defended its pioneering ban on social media for children under 16 on Saturday, despite new data revealing the scale of the challenge in enforcing the landmark policy. The internet regulator found that over 80% of Australian teenagers were still using social media three months after the restrictions took effect in December, highlighting the difficulty of policing a digital world deeply ingrained in daily life.
Introduced in December to address concerns about the impact of social media on children's mental and physical health, the ban has faced criticism from U.S.-based social media companies. In response to the regulator's findings, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities, and Treasury Andrew Leigh emphasized that the ban had already transformed the national conversation among parents.
He stated that millions of accounts had been shut down, acknowledging that 100% compliance was unrealistic, similar to enforcing a minimum drinking age law. However, the eSafety study painted a more sobering picture, showing that children aged 10 to 15 continued to use social media at the same frequency as before the ban, which came into force on December 10.
Parental awareness of their children's online habits had actually declined. The findings align with earlier data published by eSafety in March, three months before the Labor government announced plans for stricter enforcement, including doubling the maximum penalty for tech firms that fail to comply with the ban.
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