NSW social media summit to host Meta whistlebower, tech experts in battle to protect teens online

A team of social media avengers are set to assemble in a first-of-its-kind summit to combat the growing dangers teens face online. Here is the plan.

Global tech experts and Meta whistleblowers will meet the kids at the coalface of a social media storm, amid a rise in bullying and extremism online.

The International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour will be transformed into a think-tank next month, as part of a NSW Government lead social media summit aimed at addressing critical issues surrounding online platforms.

Meta whistleblower, Frances Haugen, will highlight the lack of oversight of social media platforms, and their impact on children worldwide.

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen delivers a keynote address to the Australian Cyber Conference at the National Convention Centre in Canberra in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“We have stood by, for more than a decade, as unaccountable American social media companies have experimented on Australian children,” she said.

“The time has come for us to demand more from our online public squares for children and ourselves.

“We can have social media that brings out the best in us – but only if we fight for it.”

While US-based digital parenting expert and author Elizabeth Milovidovis is set to give practical tips to assist parents in guiding their children to navigate technology.

San Diego State University Psychology Professor, Dr Jean Twenge, will be asked to present evidence to policymakers on the relationship between the global adolescent mental health crisis and social media usage.

The summit will hear from teens who will share their perspectives of the dangers they face online, alongside sessions from eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant and NSW Chief Psychiatrist Dr Murray Wright.

Chief Psychiatrist Dr. Murray Wright. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dylan Coker

eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant appears before Senate Esitmates at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

NSW Premier Chris Minns said the government had assembled experts, commentators and community voices to talk through “challenges and opportunities posed by social media”.

“I’ve said before, social media is this giant global unregulated experiment on children, and we have to change that,” he told The Saturday Telegraph.

“If there is more we can do as a state government to ensure safe and positive use of social media in our communities – we will do it.

Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns . Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

“We are committed to using every tool at our disposal to safeguard young people in the digital space and to equip parents with the knowledge they need.”

The summit will work to develop a “public health response” to social media harm minimisation and work to identify opportunities to address social media harms within educational settings.

Originally published as NSW social media summit to host Meta whistlebower, tech experts in battle to protect teens online