Tech giants forced to blur porn and violence in world-first Australian social media ban
Australia's eSafety Commissioner has forced technology companies to hide disturbing content from children just weeks after the world’s first social media ban for under-16s takes effect.
Tech giants have agreed to blur online images of pornography and violence just weeks after Australia’s world-first ban on children using of social media takes effect on Wednesday.
E-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has released new rules to protect children from “harmful age-inappropriate content’’, including suicide, pornography, extreme violence and eating disorders.
The industry-drafted code of conduct will require app stores, social media services, equipment providers, pornography sites and artificial intelligence services to blur pornographic or violent images until a user can prove they are over 18.
Apps and websites will also be required to redirect Australians seeking information relating to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders to appropriate mental health support services from December 27.
Ms Inman Grant said more children were accidentally seeing “lawful but awful’’ pornography and violent images. “This is about protecting our kids from accidental exposure to material they will never be able to unsee,’’ she said.
“From December 27, search engines have an obligation to blur image results of online pornography and extreme violence to protect children from this incidental exposure. Adults who wish to view that content can still click through to see it if they choose.’’
In a global test of the boundaries between censorship and child protection, Australia will bar 2.5 million children from the most popular social media platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat, Twitch, Instagram and YouTube, on Wednesday – and the world will be watching.
Will it work? Can the requirement for social media companies to verify that users are at least 16 – a digital age of consent – turn back time to a more innocent and carefree childhood? It might lead to litigation and a mass meltdown of angry and anxious kids, forced to go cold-turkey on their digital addictions. And given the propensity for children to outsmart adults when it comes to technology, the ban might not be effective.
Australia is the first country to legislate fines for social media companies that fail to ensure users are 16 or older, with a ban that has caught the interest of the European Commission, Malaysia, Indonesia and New Zealand.
The ban raises concerns about fraud, privacy and identity theft, as tech companies will be able to insist that all existing users – even adults – use facial age estimation, credit card or identity checks to verify they are over the age of consent.
A survey by global data platform PureProfile found that 84 per cent of Australian teachers support the ban – mainly to stop bullying – yet only 20 per cent feel it will be effective. While three-quarters of parents support the ban, two-thirds reckon their kids will find ways to circumvent it.
Death threats in response to regulation
Ms Inman Grant – who has received death threats over her attempts to regulate the internet – is adamant that what she describes as a “pause’’ on children’s use of social media is for the greater good.
“Of course we know that kids are going to try and circumvent the rules,’’ she said. “The burden is on platforms to prevent kids creating fake or impostor accounts, or using VPNs for location-based circumvention, or using generative AI or wearing a mask or a moustache.’’
Ms Inman Grant said that “I feel for those kids in the 13 to 15 age bracket, because there is going to be a transition from having that dopamine hit taken away’’.
“The best way they’re going to be able to connect with their friends is through group messaging platforms, or in real life,’’ she said.
Ms Inman Grant addressed the European Commission about Australia’s plans on Thursday night, after the European parliament voted to pursue a similar ban, and has met ambassadors from European countries to explain its implementation.
“All 27 countries are keen to know how it works, and each one will roll it out slightly differently,’’ she said. “We’re the first domino.’’
A group of 11 international academics, experts in social media, mental health and technology, will review Australia’s ban over the next two years.
“We’ll be looking at everything – are our kids sleeping more?’’ Ms Inman Grant said. “Are they interacting interpersonally more? Are they doing more sports? Are they reading books or playing board games, are they out in the fresh air? Are they taking less medication, whether it’s Ritalin or antidepressants, and are their NAPLAN (scores) getting better? We’ll also be looking at the unintended consequences.’’
Addictive gaming algorithms
Psychologist Brad Marshall, the clinical director of Australia’s first gaming addiction clinic, has treated 2500 children for internet addictions over the past 15 years. A researcher with Macquarie University, he is adamant that the tech giants’ addictive algorithms are rewiring children’s brains by cutting their attention spans. His patients at The Screen and Gaming Disorder Clinic in Sydney are as young as seven.
“These kids are gaming for six to 14 hours a day – I’ve seen kids that have not been to school for two or three years,’’ he said.
“I’ve seen kids who sleep three or four hours a night. I’ve seen kids who haven’t exercised in years, who have low vitamin D, low bone density, low iron levels – everything that comes from being in a dark, sedentary room.
“And then there are the behavioural outbursts, which can range from being irritable to verbal anger outbursts to physically breaking stuff, physical assaults and police coming to the home, which is not that uncommon.’’
At the clinic, Dr Marshall can work with children for up to nine months to “literally rewire the neurological pathways in their brain’’. Alarmingly, he is also treating young adults whose online addictions from childhood interfere with work and study.
He has seen students drop out of university and professionals struggle to hold down a job because they are gaming for 10 hours a night.
For a decade, Dr Marshall fought for the dangers of online addictions to be taken seriously. “For the first 10 years of my career, people thought I was a kook,’’ he said. “But your average parent is starting to wake up to it now. Just ask any parent of a kid aged seven to 14 who games – typically on Robolox – and they will tell you about the destruction.’’
High Court case goes ahead
Despite broad support for the ban, the High Court has agreed to hear a constitutional challenge early next year.
The Digital Freedom Project – initiated by the Libertarian Party’s NSW upper house member John Ruddick – has lodged a case on behalf of 15-year-old high school students Noah Jones and Macy Neyland. In their writ of summons, the teenagers argue that the new law impinges on the implied freedom of political communication.
Mr Ruddick insists that none of the tech companies have chipped in to cover the expected $500,000 cost of litigation, although he holds out hope that the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, might contribute.
“There should be a separation of state and the internet,’’ Mr Ruddick said. “We should let the internet run free. Censorship will always backfire. Kids are going to get around the ban and then they’re going to be on underground social media, with no parental supervision.’’
Advertisers cashing in on insecurities of young
When Charley Breusch was 15, she suffered from anorexia nervosa, and struggled to recover when social media algorithms kept bombarding her with posts and messages about dieting.
Now 24, Ms Breusch is about to start work as a teacher, and is pleased that a new generation of children will not fall prey to advertisers cashing in on their insecurities.
“When I was at the height of my sickness, it was providing me with my own echo chamber of negative thoughts and feelings about food,’’ she said. “It was all ‘thinspo’ – thin inspiration – showing restrictive diets.’’
Ms Breusch fears it will be “very, very challenging’’ to wean teenagers from social media, but feels the gain will be worth the pain. “I’m really hoping it will get kids to be able to connect more face-to-face, and get away from screens and the hyper-real world of social media, and actually get to experience life,’’ she said.
For decades, Danelle Einstein has been blowing the whistle on the effects of social media on children’s development, self-esteem and anxiety.
“Social media is making them feel bad about themselves,’’ she said. “Their self-esteem is affected by those likes, shares and comments. It’s altered the way they handle their emotions.”
Dr Einstein, from Macquarie University, insists children must be able to make mistakes without an audience.
“Teens need to be protected at this age,’’ she said. “They shouldn’t have their social mistakes spread like wildfire, and they should learn how to do things without there being a performative element.
“Australia is taking the first step in calling out the harms. I think the 10-year-olds who are not on social media yet are going to be protected because their parents are now much more aware of what’s going on. This will protect the children coming through.’’
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