Response to the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 [Provisions]

Submission prepared by Professor Tama Leaver, Professor Michael Dezuanni, Dr Aleesha Rodriguez, and Dr Amanda Levido. 

As written, the proposed Bill is not the solution that the Government or parents and carers are looking for to address their concerns about children and young people’s experiences online. We join over 140 national and international experts and Australia’s leading mental health organisations in warning the government that banning people under 16 from social media won’t make social media safe.

We need to move away from a deficit model when considering children’s engagement with the digital world. Our focus must shift from protecting children from the digital environment and more to protecting them within the digital environment.

The Internet was not created with children in mind, but children still have a right to be online. Our goal as a society should not be to exclude children from social media, rather, it ought to be about creating and facilitating high-quality experiences for children online, which can include social media that provides age-appropriate experiences.