Australia’s lawmakers are writing laws that could potentially ban social media for children under 16 years old due to mental health awareness, as well as general safety. If these laws are introduced, no child under 16 could potentially be allowed to have a social media account.
The 36 Months Initiative petitioned the stance that social media proves to be detrimental and argued that kids under 16 are not yet ready to navigate social media networks safely.
“Excessive social media use is rewiring young brains within a critical window of psychological development, causing an epidemic of mental illness,” said the 36 Months Initiative.
This petition will take two weeks from Nov. 18 to be approved or disapproved by the legislature and will take a year before Australia will have the law made in full effect. During that year, social media platforms will have to figure out how to exclude children under 16 from their sites.
Australia plans to hold the platforms Facebook, X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, to these new standards once the law is enacted. Only the media platforms would be punished in breach of this law. Children, along with their parents, would not be penalized to any extent.
Many students at GCSU are consistently active on social media, and while they may not be directly affected by Australia’s new possible restrictions, many have opinions on the possibilities that it presents.
“Social media has done some damage to my mental health, but it also helped bolster my mental health,” said AJ Harris, a sophomore mass communication major. “Anonymity on social media allows hate groups and hate words to go unpunished, but certain communities help children who may be unable to express their own interests by providing a safe space where they can freely explore a part of themselves that may be restrained in their daily life.”
There are positives and negatives to the proposed social media ban in Australia. A concern of students who have recently surpassed the proposed minimum age is that youths who do not participate in social media may rely on the help that minority communities provide.
“I definitely saw a lot of explicit things that I feel I shouldn’t have seen when I was young,” said Jared Reese, a senior computer science major. “There’s a lot of stuff on social media that kids should be sheltered from; they can be exposed to dangerous people.”
Reese understands the concern that social media poses a threat to youths. He noted that a law like this may be the best way to solve the problem, specifically, but also understands the issues posed by people who are pro-social media for children.
“Helping me grow my own opinions on world issues that don’t apply to me helps me express empathy,” Reese said. “Teenagers can be helped to learn about communities and many issues outside of their world.”
Some believe that the benefits of social media outweigh the dangers that could affect the safety and mental health of children. However, Australia’s lawmakers are making moves they believe will ultimately benefit their citizens.
