When politicians kick the can down the road it is usually an excuse to do nothing. The Government’s decision to ‘review’ proposals to ban social media for under-16 year olds does not fall into that category. It is the right thing to do, but the can needs to be kicked into next year.
The review was precipitated by a private member’s bill sponsored by National MP Catherine Wedd. By her own admission, that bill “closely mirrors the approach taken in Australia”.
The review must include an assessment of the actual consequences of Australia’s recent federal law banning youngsters from the platforms. That law does not come into force until December.
Canberra’s ban has been widely praised but there are numerous questions over how it will be implemented and how effective it will be. The Australians have a trial underway on an Age Check Certification Scheme, which will assess technology to be used to determine whether people are the age they claim to be when accessing social media. It is due to report next month but, as of now, we don’t know whether it will even work.
Nor do we know whether it will have unintended consequences. For example, there is a proposal by Google that would allow users to store copies of their passport or driver’s licence for age verification purposes. Personally, I would retreat into the analogue world of typewriters, pens and letter paper before entrusting social platforms with such precious proof of identity.
That is just one aspect of the ban that has a question mark hanging over it. Another is how the likes of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg will react to YouTube carving out an exemption for itself when they have not. During the Australian federal election campaign Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was expecting “major pressure”.
Albanese indicated his government would not buckle to that pressure and the legislation contains stiff penalties for non-compliance. However, another of the unanswered questions is how effective those measures will be.
And what would be the overall effect of the likes of Trump-emboldened American platform operators simply pulling plug on Australian operations? After all, Canada was subjected to a news ban by Meta, and Australia is an even smaller market. Can Australians live without social media? Would it push users toward security suspect TikTok if its Chinese owners opted not to join any boycott?
As I say, Australia attracted widespread international praise for tackling the problem of young people’s use of social media. However, that praise was not universal. Leaving aside 12 year olds who think it is “crazy”, opposition to the ban included an open letter signed by 140 international academics and mental health groups. They argued the ban was too simplistic and that systemic regulation (covering social media across the board) was needed. Human rights advocates claimed it infringed on young people’s rights, including access to information and privacy.
The technical, legal, and social fallout from the law will not be resolved in advance of its implementation. Court challenges, for example, may rely on actual evidence of unacceptable inroads or consequences.
In other words, there is much to play out before the Australian blueprint is proven fit for purpose. It would be folly for this country to “closely mirror” it until that fitness test has been passed.
I don’t much care whether the National Party’s motive in usurping Catherine Wedd’s private member’s bill was to take the credit for attacking a serious social issue, or to simply kick the can down the road when it had ‘more important things’ to worry about. Importantly, our solution will no longer turn on Wedd’s Bill.
The review has been placed in a very competent pair of hands – Education Minister Erica Stanford. She is a better choice than Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith, whose preoccupation with other weighty portfolios has seen media issues placed on a back burner this year. Continue reading “Erica Stanford needs to give social media review a well-aimed kick”
