Editorial: PM must fast-track social media ban after Brisbane school tragedy

It is critical the Albanese government sticks to its social media age limit timeframe, and does not blink, despite campaigning from the tech giants, writes the editor.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has committed to a social media age limit. Picture: Martin Ollman/NCA NewsWire

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese must ensure his world-leading ban on Australian kids aged under 16 using social media is imposed – as planned – this year. How many more times can we endure having kids see their lives destroyed by this ruinous technology?

The tech platforms themselves have shown they simply do not care. These same multibillion-dollar companies that have prioritised the development of algorithms that flag – within seconds – a stray nipple or a single harmless swear word as “inappropriate content” continue to claim they have no possible way of meaningfully dealing with the bullying that their platforms have enabled as routine.

What is happening is a crime, and it should be called out as such.

In the old days just a generation or so ago, any schoolyard problems ended the moment you stepped off the bus on the way home. Today, it follows you – relentlessly, endlessly – wherever you go. There is simply no respite. Can you imagine?

And yet this is the reality for our current generation of kids.

Thank goodness for the hard work of The Courier-Mail, and its sister publications across Australia, which have banded together over the past year to campaign for the ban on kids using social media until they reach the age of consent, 16.

The kids will not initially like it. The pressure on them to not only be on social media, but to update their feeds and to respond to messages they receive is intense. But that is entirely the point. We have let our kids down. We have robbed them of their childhoods. And sadly – yes, tragically – we have lost far too many of them along the way.

Federal Communications Minister Anika Wells simply has to respond to this week’s tragedy at Brisbane’s All Hallows School by assuring parents she has this – that they can trust her and the federal government to stare down the threats being made by the biggest companies the world has ever known and do what is right for our children. Yesterday, her office declined to issue a comment.

We understand this is a sensitive time. And we understand, too, the broader challenges she faces. As we say, she is taking on organisations that have scale – and therefore influence – beyond what we have ever seen. But perhaps that is the point: Those people we choose to represent us must stand up for our interests as a community.

As parenting expert Dr Justin Coulson warns, the only thing social media companies care about is to make money for their shareholders. He warned: “They are as insidious as any other company that wants to capture market share, and they will use the most devious strategies to do that, and they have learned how to hijack adolescents’ psychological systems in order to do that.” In other words, they do not care.

Prime Minister Albanese must be applauded for the stance he took last year in committing to this ban. He saw it through Parliament in November last year so it would be set in stone before the election, and it is still due to take effect from December this year – with the ban to then take effect in the months after that as platforms implement the changes, and kids under 16 are identified and kicked off them. It is critical the Albanese government sticks to this timeframe, and does not blink – despite the campaigning from the tech giants against it.

They are valuing their share price above the price of our kids’ lives. Those of us who care about these world-leading changes think the wellbeing of our kids is priceless.

DON’T KOWTOW TO CHINA

The Chinese government is, of course, entitled to its own views on foreign affairs. But equally, as a sovereign nation, Australia should be able to share its own views on foreign affairs with Beijing. The challenge we have at the moment is that balance appears out of whack – with our side going out of its way to not cause offence, and the other just not caring about such niceties.

Witness the exclusive revelation today that China’s Sydney-based consul-general used a closed-door meeting with the mayor of the NSW city of Newcastle to warn that Australia should not use “relations with other countries to adversely impact China”. Come on, really?

The consul-general, Wang Yu, also probed Newcastle’s mayor Ross Kerridge for information regarding if our nation’s incoming nuclear-powered submarines might be based there, according to the official minutes of the meeting.

Chinese people have contributed so much to Australia, and of course continue to do so. It is actually hard to imagine a modern Australia without generations of immigrants from that beautiful nation.

But the truth is that the ambitions of those currently ruling China do not align with Australia’s interests – which are based on not much more than ensuring a peaceful, stable and therefore prosperous region.

It is also a problem that our Prime Minister has to watch his language when visiting China (but visit he should, as our trade relationship is so important). We must learn from history and remain strong.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here