Jacinta Allan slams social media giants for not doing more to support children’s safety online

Premier Jacinta Allan says it’s “deeply frustrating” to see social media companies not do more to support and protect children online.

Premier Jacinta Allan has slammed tech giants’ attempts to clean up their act on children’s social media accounts, saying it’s not enough.

It comes as the state launches its new survey on what restrictions should be put in place in the future.

The action follows the Herald Sun’s Let Them Be Kids campaign, which highlighted the dangers of social media and urged governments to raise the age of social media access to 16.

Jacinta Allan has slammed social media tech giants. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake

The Victorian Premier, a mother of two, said social media giants like Meta – owned by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg – recently took action and showed they could do more.

“It’s deeply frustrating that they don’t take stronger action,” Ms Allan said.

“It does demonstrate that the social media giants have a range of tools that they can use right now.

“We need them to go further where they need to see that this is a partnership opportunity to help support young people with their appropriate use of social media,” she said.

Her comments come as the first round of public consultation on new social media age restrictions launched on Tuesday in Victoria in the form of a new online survey for parents, students and teachers to share their thoughts on what a ban on social media should look like.

“We are asking for all Victorians to have their say as part of a survey that has been released today,” Ms Allan said.

“We want to hear directly from the lived experience of parents, and kids, about what they think the most appropriate age limit should be. That lived experience will help shape the resources and use of the safe socials resources,” she said.

The Victorian government has released a survey for public consultation on new social media age restrictions.

The launch was coupled with the state government’s announcement of a new $3.5 million Safe Socials program.

The school-based approach will make digital literacy part of the curriculum, ensuring that schools provide teaching in the classroom on the impact of social media and how to navigate online platforms safely.

Education Minister Ben Carroll said the new Safe Socials program would be part of the curriculum and that “digital literacy” was essential for students in today’s world.

“Just as kids grow up and get behind the wheel of a car, kids grow up and get behind the screen of the device, and we want to make sure the guardrails are there that they know and have the best knowledge on how to handle these social media platforms,” he said.

Ms Allan said the Victorian consultation process is part of a national approach to cracking down on “the social media tsunami.”

In September, Ms Allan joined other premiers and Prime Minister Albanese government to take action against social media giants profiting from cybercrime and failing to protect Australian children.

The survey engage.vic.gov.au/safesocials will close November 1.