Social media policing at risk of becoming Chinese-style control

I’m aware that social media can be dangerous for young people (“Protect the young from big tech”, 26/11).

Surely it is the job of parents to control their children’s use of social media, perhaps with phones that don’t provide access to it.

It is most certainly not the job of our federal government to parent our children. The government is trying to control every aspect of our lives, thoughts and actions. This law will be a backdoor introduction of a digital ID for everyone, including adults.

I am very much against this look-alike of the Chinese social credit system, where the government knows everything you buy, do or think. They then reward or punish you for it. This is not what Australia should look like.

Robyn Manoy, Darling Point, NSW

There is a growing body of research that suggests the link between social media use and mental health is, at best, weak.

There are also doubts about how it can be implemented without invading the privacy of all who use social media.

The “say you are sorry and make friends” approach to bullying does not appear to be as successful as those attempting to implement it would have us believe either.

Perhaps it is time to consider that most adults are able to restrain themselves from saying what they think. They also have more opportunities to avoid those they dislike. They are not expected to be friends with everyone. On the other hand, children and young people have much more difficulty restraining their behaviour. They are thrown together in groups and taught they are expected to tolerate and make friends with everyone in the group.

When we try to teach tolerance and respect and much more, we are actually asking much more of children and young people than we do of adults. It may be that teaching discipline and simple good manners would be more effective.

KM Gunn, Lower Mitcham, SA

Lesson from COP

Judith Sloan identifies only one positive, or “deliverable”, from the latest COP gathering, and that is the continued support for nuclear energy among those who pursue net zero (“Memo Labor: COP world sees the light on nuclear”, 26/11).

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s denial of this reality can be described only as Luddite as he slams the door on Australia’s ongoing participation in research on nuclear energy. He and his government are being blind to the progress being made in this area, putting short-term politics ahead of the national interest. That the focus of COP was to extract funds from indebted rich countries to assist transition in developing nations was entirely predictable, as was Bowen’s generosity on Australia’s behalf.

But if there was a joker in the pack to rival Bowen’s inane statements and the presence of the Taliban at COP29, it is the fact Britain meets its renewables targets by burning wood pellets.

John Morrissey, Hawthorn, Vic

Is there anybody, apart from our climate-obsessed leaders, who does not realise that virtually every aspect of our lives involves electricity? Yet our government insists on increasing power costs by promoting “cheap” renewables. They then wonder why our cost of living continues to escalate. How much longer do we have to suffer from their ignorance?

Case Smit, Noosaville, Qld

Melbourne highlight

Your story (“Restaurant king unveils his crowning glory”, 25/11) is full of the positivity poor Melbourne needs.

It is a city I worked in and loved; it’s a well-done boost and inspiration. Again, I am reminded that it’s businesspeople such as Chris Lucas who create the wealth of this great country, not the politicians, who only spend it.

Alas, I’m highly unlikely to now be able to afford such a lunch or dinner in his fine new place of elegance again. Covid saw off our business. Gone are the heady days of wonderful times that businesses such as mine enjoyed, in a relaxed and courteous way of proposing a business deal with clients or buyers in an out-of-office environment, in a restaurant.

Bernadette Craven, Geelong, Vic

Come clean on Israel

Does Foreign Minister Penny Wong realise the global outrage that Australia will cause in the democratic free world if we follow through with the insane arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the International Criminal Court, which has no standing in the Australian justice system?

Anthony Albanese needs to come clean once and for all on where our government stands on Israel. Does our government support Israel as the only democratic country in the Middle East, or do we regard Israel as a terrorist country, as proclaimed by the pro-Palestinian protest marchers? The Prime Minister can’t have it both ways.

John Bell, Heidelberg Heights, Vic