Premier Steven Miles’ warning to social media giants over harm to kids

I wrote to Meta more than six weeks ago and am yet to ­receive the courtesy of a ­response, writes Steven Miles.

• Age limit: PM, premiers back action

We are fostering a generation of young people who have grown up on social media – it’s all they can remember.

That brings opportunities for connectivity, but also unprecedented access to the worst parts of humanity which can then have a detrimental impact on mental health. My wife Kim and I have really grappled with how we keep our kids safe online.

It’s been challenging, but for us it’s about having oversight and open conversations about the content they are seeing and engaging with.

Social media is an important tool for education and for connection, but its dark side can do serious damage to young people and to our communities.

That is why I believe the Australian government needs to pull the levers available to them to ensure social media companies are acting responsibly in our communities.

Premier Steven Miles with wife Kim

I support the calls for the age limit for social media access to be increased to 14 years, and tighter regulation on access to under-16s.

I have spoken with South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, who has recently appointed former Chief Justice of the High Court Robert French AC to conduct a legal examination into banning children under the age of 14 from having social media accounts.

Their government will share the outcomes of that examination with ours, to better understand how we could implement that ban in Queensland.

I wrote to Meta more than six weeks ago and am yet to ­receive the courtesy of a ­response. It’s just not good enough.

Social media giants like Meta need to do better. If they won’t take the steps needed to keep our kids safe, then I will.

Steven Miles is Premier of Queensland