By Tahlia Perry

Can we please take a minute to pause, quieten the white noise and celebrate an amazing win for Australian parents, children and young people?

Last night, the Federal Parliament passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024. This means that in 12 months’ time my child and young people across Australia will have one barrier in place to keep them safer online.

Is this Bill a silver bullet? No, but it never claimed to be.

There are a few claims being made - even on our socials - that are critical of the Government's Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024.

We want to correct them.

‘Australia’s social media age minimum will reduce the online harms that are affecting young people…And it will stop social media companies from continuing to use predatory business practices to take advantage of vulnerable young people’

Andrew Leigh, MP, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasuries and Employment and member for Fraser, ACT, has written a significant essay explaining the rationale behind the Government’s move to implement raising the age of access to social media to 16, which we have supported. The essay was published by Jonathan Haidt, prominent social psychologist and author of the best-seller ‘The Anxious Generation’, on Substack yesterday. We thought it warranted an even wider audience so have extracted some key elements here. You can find the full piece here: (subscriber only – but you can sign up to Haidt’s ‘After Babel’ newsletter for free – here. 

Children should not be required to build capacity to keep themselves safe: Committee recommendations draw from our evidence

Collective Shout welcomes the final report of the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society which examines the influence of social media on users’ health and wellbeing. Collective Shout’s submission to the inquiry and Movement Director, Melinda Tankard Resist’s evidence before a public hearing were cited in the final report titled: Social media: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Movement Director Melinda Tankard Reist addressed the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society this week, arguing in support of age verification for social media platforms. Our participation in the inquiry attracted national media coverage – you can read some highlights below.

It’s been a big month for us here at Collective Shout! Our message has attracted a lot of mainstream media attention. From the harms of porn and porn-themed ads, the exploitation of girls on Instagram, and the campaign to raise the age for social media access, our voice is being heard.