Oprah Winfrey praises Australia’s world-first social media ban for U16s, saying it will ‘save a lot of children’
Oprah Winfrey has backed Australia’s world-first social media ban for under-16s in the wake of the Let Them Be Kids campaign, saying it will “change lives”.
Superstar American media identity Oprah Winfrey has backed Australia’s social media ban, saying it will “change lives”.
The Australian Government moved to ban social media from those aged under 16 after The Herald Sun’s Let Them Be Kids campaign.
The world-first ban starts on December 10.
“I think you’re going to change the lives of an entire generation of kids who are going to have better lives,” Winfrey said at her ‘In Conversation’ event in Sydney on Thursday night.
“All the research is telling us what is happening to these young people’s brains. You are going to save a lot of children.”
Winfrey referenced Jonathan Haidt’s work, particularly his book, The Anxious Generation.
“Jonathan Haidt was telling me the last time he was on (her podcast) that 40 per cent of American kids … two years old have iPads already,” she said.
“When your brain cells, you’re not even formed, you know, and how dangerous that’s going to be.
“There are all of these young people who cannot actually communicate or have a conversation, particularly young boys because they become addicted to porn so early and don’t know how to actually ask somebody out on a date, haven’t experienced the socialisation of talking to a real person. So once again, Australia leads the way for the rest of the world.”
Winfrey’s comments were met by rapturous applause by the audience.
The sold-out venue included many familiar faces, among them Steve Waugh, Camilla Franks, Layne Beachley and Sally Bowrey.
Sydney was the first of five stops of Winfrey’s In Conversation events to be held across the country and New Zealand, her next stop being Adelaide before heading to Brisbane, Melbourne and Auckland.
Winfrey, 71, has made the most of her first few days since touching down in Sydney, visiting Bills in Bondi on the recommendation of Australian Hollywood export Hugh Jackman.
The ricotta hotcakes with banana and honeycomb butter are a strong favourite.
“Worth it is not even the word,” she told MC Melissa Doyle.
“When we were driving over here, I was thinking, ‘gosh, I miss those pancakes’.”
Winfrey has big plans for her trip, saying she intended on hiking Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain on mainland Australia, and referenced the fact she was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi.
Winfrey, who has an Academy Award, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe and multiple Emmy’s to her name, last visited Australia in 2015 when she brought her ‘An Evening With Oprah’ events here.
And in 2010 she famously recorded four episodes of the final season of her hit talk show at the Sydney Opera House, dubbed at the time the ‘Oprah House’ for the extravaganza that saw her bring 300 American fans with her with the shows broadcast to 145 countries globally.
“The best thing in the world is to be underestimated,” she said, talking about her varied career and building a global media empire.
“It’s fantastic, I am where I am because of underestimation. I got the contract deal that I got because nobody expected it to work. And so I love being underestimated.”
Originally published as Oprah Winfrey praises Australia’s world-first social media ban for U16s, saying it will ‘save a lot of children’
