Peter Dutton accuses Albanese government of dragging its heels on under-16 social media ban

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says social media companies are ‘predators’ who put profits over people, likening them to Big Tobacco in the 1970s and ’80s.

Peter Dutton has revealed that he made his children hand in their phones at night to limit their online access – but says parents battling with their teenagers over social media use could not be expected to go it alone.

Likening Meta and other online platforms to the “tobacco companies of the 1970s and ’80s” that put profits before users, Mr Dutton said the ­Albanese government was moving too slowly in introducing new laws banning under-16s from social media.

Speaking to News Corp about its Let Them Be Kids campaign, the Liberal leader said it was imperative the federal government acted now, while flagging the need for possible further legislation “and a really effective enforcement regime” in the future.

“We’ve been pushing this for a long time and we are pleased the government has adopted our position, but we really need to get this bill through parliament now,” he said.

“The government is making excuses and looking at exemptions for the big tech companies, but that will just make the legislation meaningless.

“Parents need the support of the legislation so they can have a proper conversation with their children.

“It’s an easier conversation and an easier limitation to put in place if they’ve got the backing of legislation.”

Peter Dutton with wife Kirilly, daughter Rebecca, and sons Tom and Harry (right). Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Mr Dutton, who described the parenting style of he and wife Kirilly as “ strict” and “protective”, said witnessing “pretty horrific circumstances of sexual abuse” and “children being exploited” in real life as a Queensland police officer drove his desire to keep his children off the internet for “as long as we could”.

“I knew it was like that on steroids online,” he said.

Screen addiction starts early and is hard to beat. Picture: iStock

While their children eventually were given a mobile for safety reasons “as they were on public transport or travelling to high school”, they each had to hand them in at night before bed, he said.

It was also made a condition of purchasing the phones that the parents had access to them, which “they were relaxed about”, he said.

“One of the things that we were really adamant about – as our kids were growing up – were no phones in the bedroom,” he said.

“We had some friends who ended up having to lock phones in safes because it was like taking cocaine off a drug addict. Their kids were so ­addicted, and the response so visceral, that it just created a terrible dynamic in those ­families.

“So for us, it was important to have a united position as parents, and we both enforced it really strongly.

We had the condition of paying for their phone and their account was that we had access to it and that we had knowledge of what they were downloading, which was off our Apple account.”

He said his kids were fine with the arrangement.

Describing social media companies as “predators”, Mr Dutton said the putting onus on parents to restrict their children’s use showed they had zero regard for their users.

“They’re putting profit ahead of people and I think that has to be addressed and I don’t know any parents who would have a different view,” he said.

“These companies have zero regard for consumers, they’re the tobacco companies of the 1970s and 1980s … and it’s not until there’s community pushback or governments that move, that the companies start to act.

“I think there is going to be a need for further legislation, there’s going to be a need for further engagement with the companies, and importantly, there’s going to need to be a really effective enforcement regime here as well.”

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