Australian mum Emma Mason stuns world with call at UN to save kids’ lives at risk from social media
Aussie mum Emma Mason has brought world leaders to their feet at the UN as she implored other countries to follow Australia’s lead to protect kids from social media. SEE THE VIDEO
Australian mother Emma Mason has brought world leaders to their feet at the United Nations as she implored other countries to follow Australia’s lead to protect kids from the harms of social media.
In an emotional speech, Ms Mason, a key figure in News Corp Australia’s Let Them Be Kids Campaign, described how her 15-year-old daughter Matilda “Tilly” Rosewarne died after relentless online bullying and how other young lives could be saved by giving children three extra years to develop before allowing them access to social media.
Her extraordinary speech was lauded by the European Commission President who praised her bravery and Prime Minister of Greece who embraced the Aussie mum after his own address at Australia’s event.
“Social media played a direct role in her death – Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, they all played their dirty part,” Ms Mason said of her daughter.
“Of course, Tilly’s pain was over but for everyone who loved her, our daily pain never ends.”
Among the audience at Australia’s UN event were EU President Ursula von der Leyen, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Fijian PM Sitiveni Rabuka, Malta PM Robert Abela, renowned author and child psychologist Jonathan Haidt.
“The only way to stop this harm is to hit these corporations in their hip pocket because they’ve known about it and they’ve done nothing, much like the tobacco companies of old.
“I implore leaders and nations of our great world to act but act now, making it illegal for children to access social media under 16 will improve lives. It will save lives.”
From December 10, the age of access to social media will be increased from 13 to 16 for Australian kids.
The new legislation was brought about by advocacy from News Corp Australia’s Let Them Be Kids Campaign which highlighted the devastating harms being caused to kids through social media.
Speaking at the event in New York, Ms von der Leyen applauded Australia’s “bold” leadership.
“As Emma said, it is for parents to raise their children and not for algorithms,” she said.
“Our next generation needs us to step up, to be daring, and to give this a go.”
She recited the shocking statistics about the exploding screen time tallies of children.
Ms von der Leyen said as a mother of seven and grandmother of five, she was in full support of the EU’s push toward adopting similar social media restrictions to Australia.
“Prime Minister as I’ve said before when it comes to the EU-Australia relationship, there is no distance between our democracies – the same goes for good ideas,” she said.
Speaking alongside Mr Albanese, Ms von der Leyen vowed to look into implementing a similar approach in Europe.
“Many member states believe the time has come for a ‘digital majority age’ for access to social media,” she said.
“I must tell you as a mother of seven children, and grandmother of five, I share their view.
“We all agree that young people should reach a certain age before they smoke, drink, or have access to adult content. The same can be said for social media.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had been deeply moved by the advocacy of parents like Ms Mason whose children suffered harm or died as a result of social media platforms.
“We want children to have a childhood,” he said.
“To be off their phones and on the sporting field, or playing music, or hanging out with friends.
The PM said there was a clear link between the rise of social media and the harm to the mental health of young people around the world.
“We need to give kids more time to develop the maturity and the skills to navigate the online world safely,” he said.
“What we are doing isn’t easy. But the burden that social media can place on our young people is often far harder.”
Greek PM Mr Mitsotakis applauded Australia’s leadership and said the world was eagerly watching.
“We are running the biggest unchecked experiment with our children’s brains ever and we don’t know what the consequences will be,” he said.
He said his office had been inundated with messages from parents begging for Greece to take action to protect kids from social media harms and said governments had a responsibility to act.
“As you pointed out, Prime Minister, it’s not going to be perfect, but we cannot use the difficulties in implementing these policies as an excuse not to do something about the problem,” Mr Mitsotakis said.
“So as responsible leaders, we do have an obligation, not just a responsibility, to address this challenge, and this is what we intend to do.”
Mr Mitsotakis said in addition to social media, he hoped to also tackle the dangers of children interacting with AI chatbots.
“Do we really want our kids to have digital friends that may lead us towards behaviours which are not just unacceptable, but could also be catastrophic,” he said.
“Tech companies are making enough money they just don’t need to also make money off the vulnerabilities of children.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Australian mum Emma Mason stuns world with call at UN to save kids’ lives at risk from social media
