‘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.
By Andrew Leigh, MP
Over the period from 2007-2010 to 2019-2022, the mental wellbeing of young Australians became worse. Much worse. The share of young people reporting a mental disorder rose by 40 per cent for males and 60 per cent for females. Self-harm hospitalizations rose 15 per cent for males and 43 per cent for females. Suicide deaths rose 23 per cent for males and 70 per cent for females.
The Evidence of Harm
Why do we think that the mass adoption of smartphones and social media is partly to blame for these shocking statistics? A few pieces of Australian evidence point in a similar direction to the data from other nations (particularly the United States) compiled by Haidt and Rausch. In long-running population-wide surveys, it is clear that the drop in mental wellbeing is much larger for young people than for middle aged adults, making it unlikely that we are simply capturing broad economic or social conditions.
Acute and Specific Harms of Social Media
Young Australians report online harms at alarmingly high rates. According to research by the office of the eSafety Commissioner, the average Australian child encounters online pornography for the first time at age 13. Young people described unintentional encounters with online pornography (which often includes sexual violence) as frequent, unavoidable and unwelcome.
Public Support Builds for a Social Media Age Minimum
A growing international movement is pushing for stronger action to reign in the social media giants. Parents don't just want better parental controls. They want a legislated minimum age for opening social media accounts and becoming customers of these companies. They want appropriate enforcement of age rules by platforms. In August 2024, a survey found that 61 percent of Australians supported banning the use of social media platforms for Australians younger than 17. Sixty-one percent of respondents also felt that social media had made their life worse.
From Legislation to Implementation
Australia’s legislation is a world first. So it’s no surprise that questions have been raised about the effectiveness of age assurance technologies. This will indeed be a challenge, but it is one for which the industry already has the tools. There are dozens of companies currently offering a great variety of age assurance methods. If Australia and other countries require the platforms to enforce minimum ages, the industry will improve the current set of choices rapidly.
Australia’s social media age minimum will reduce the online harms that are affecting young people… It will encourage more young Australians to step out of the cycle of social media addiction and experience the many joys and opportunities of the physical world and face-to-face communication. And it will stop social media companies from continuing to use predatory business practices to take advantage of vulnerable young people.
See Also:
Age Matters: The Case for Raising the Social Media Age Limit
Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society
Hold social media platforms to account: MTR addresses Fed inquiry
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