How would a social media ban actually work?

Planned new Australian laws would block children from social media to guard them from the mental and social harm linked to apps such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Discord.

With almost a quarter of children aged eight to 10 using social media at least once a week, and half of 13-year-olds doing the same, the government is responding to parental discomfort about the technology that has spread from apps like Facebook to games like Roblox.

The Albanese government plans to ban children from accessing social media, but has not said how its proposal would work.Credit: Aresna Villanueva

But similar plans have faltered overseas and there is scant detail about how the proposal would work.

Here’s what we do know.

What is the government doing?

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that he would introduce legislation by the end of the year to create a minimum age to access social media, joining South Australia, Victoria and NSW in deciding to act on growing evidence that teen mental health and social isolation are worsening.

This mirrors similar attempts in Europe and some US states to limit access, but the government said details would be worked out after the eSafety Commissioner finishes a trial of age-verification tools.

Albanese said he thought 16 was the right age, which the Coalition also supports. A minimum age of 18 for pornography sites is also being examined.

Labor’s proposal was partly inspired by South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, who plans to ban people 13 and under from social media while requiring parental consent for 14 and 15-year-olds. Malinauskas had former High Court chief justice Robert French investigate the merits of a ban.

How might it work?

There are a few options.

Many social media giants rely on self-reporting to ensure users are at least 13. Meta, which owns Facebook, asks its users to enter a birth year. That system can be easily bypassed by entering a fake birthdate, or tapping “yes” when asked to verify someone is old enough to have an account. Instagram, another Meta app, asks its users to upload a photo ID.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has instead recommended a “double-blind tokenised approach”, whereby information would be provided to a verifying third party that would certify the user’s age to social media platforms without revealing details about the child.

Other options include verified parental consent, in which a parent verifies a child’s age on their behalf, or biometrics like facial scanning, which privacy advocates have concerns about.

Will it actually work?

No country has brought in a system like the one that the eSafety Commissioner is proposing, showing how technically difficult it would be. There are also concerns that simpler systems could be easily bypassed.

In June, tech giant Meta deployed an age verification system from technology company Yoti for Australian Facebook users trying to edit their age to gain access. Users were asked to prove their age by uploading a video selfie or submitting an ID, but one reporter was able to buy a knife online by using editing software to digitally age the photo of a nine-year-old girl.

Are there other problems?

A ban on social media for children under 16 could result in even more surveillance of users.

“My god, banning people under 16 from using social media will not work,” digital rights activist Meredith Whittaker said in a recent interview. “It would basically be creating a system to monitor internet usage at a whole population scale because you can’t know that somebody is over 16 without checking everyone.”

What are other countries doing?

According to an eSafety Commissioner report, many countries are moving towards age limits.

Austria, Chile, Cyprus, Italy, South Korea, and Spain (age 14), Czech Republic, Greece, Serbia and Vietnam (age 15), and Aruba, Croatia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Slovenia (age 16) are working on age limits but enforcement varies.

In 2019, the UK ditched a plan to stop under-18s viewing porn, after delays and worries about whether the technology would work. Some US states, including Florida and Louisiana, have moved to block teens from porn and social media.

Will video games and other digital platforms be covered?

Video games such as Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnite are just as popular among children as social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and are increasingly used by millions of young Australians as places for communication and hanging out.

Users have to be at least 13 to play Roblox – the game requires a government-issued photo ID – but there is no minimum age requirement to play Fortnite or Minecraft.

The Albanese government flagged that its minimum age requirements would apply for social media and “other digital platforms” – a phrase that likely refers to video games – but did not elaborate on which platforms.

How is the politics playing out?

Labor has come a long way on the issue of age verification within a year.

In August 2023, this masthead revealed Communications Minister Michelle Rowland had overlooked a proposal from eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant to trial age-checking tools. Rowland instead opted for drafting new codes of conduct in co-operation with tech companies.

Political pressure grew on Labor as the Coalition, child safety advocates, parents and media outlets pushed for intervention to shield children from online harm.

In March, the global debate intensified after social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, released a book called The Anxious Generation that linked the rise of social media to mental health issues.

In May, Labor said it would examine the merits of age verification.

What have the tech giants said?

Facebook owner Meta has called for the onus to be on app stores and parents. Its global head of safety, Antigone Davis, has said Apple and Google, which control smartphone app stores, should be accountable for who is allowed to download apps.

“Parents should be able to approve their teens’ app downloads, and we support legislation that requires app stores to get parents’ approval whenever a teen under 16 downloads an app,” Davis said in Canberra last week.

Snapchat said in a recent submission to a Senate committee that it supports device-level age verification as the best option. “Age collection is already part of the device ID process when registering a new device, such as an iPhone or Android phone,” it said.

What role will school and parents play?

There are already tools for parents to manage screen time and help keep children safe online.

Apple’s Screen Time is a set of parental controls built into iPhones that allow parents to manage their child’s iPhone or iPad remotely and set limits on how much time the child can spend on specific apps or on the device more generally. For Android devices there is a similar free app called Google Family Link. Another app, Qustodio, allows parents to monitor and manage kids’ activity on all devices and filter certain websites and apps.

There are calls for the government’s legislation to include mandated digital literacy training programs as part of the standard curriculum, which might include education for students about privacy, cybersecurity and online risks.

“We would also like to see government-led campaigns to educate parents who face a tricky battle against strong-willed tweens and teens,” said Martin Kraemer, executive at cybersecurity firm KnowBe4.“Big tech and social media have evolved faster than parents have been able to act, so parents need more support including clear guidelines on the best ways to monitor and restrict their kids’ screen time and content.”

What’s missing from the debate?

There are some strong benefits of social media, particularly for non-binary young people, according to ANU Professor Ben Edwards, who recently undertook a social media use study of 20,000 15 and 16 year olds.

“Social media may give young people capacity to connect with a tribe that they can’t otherwise connect with at their school. So if there is a ban, I’d be thinking about the young people who are most likely to be disadvantaged by it, and what additional supports can be put in place to support them?”

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