‘Behavioural cocaine’: Australia defends social media ban for kids; no TikTok, Instagram for under-16s

Australia’s government on Wednesday justified its social media ban for under-16s, arguing it will protect young people from being pulled into an online “purgatory.”“With one law, we can protect Generation Alpha from being sucked into purgatory by the predatory algorithms described by the man who created the feature as behavioural cocaine,” communications minister Anika Wells said, as cited by AFP.

Australia is set to impose a ban from December 10, preventing users under 16 from accessing a range of major social media platforms and websites, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.The eSafety Commissioner must be satisfied that social media platforms have taken “reasonable steps” to prevent users under 16 from holding accounts, or they could face fines of up to $49.5 million. The government has said the list of affected platforms is dynamic, meaning other services could be added later if young users shift to them and similar risks arise. The commissioner has indicated that platforms like Lemon8 could be added to the list and would be required to remove accounts for under-16 users.Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has described social media as “a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators.”Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, declined to disclose how it plans to identify users it “understands” to be under 16, saying doing so could potentially alert teens on how to bypass the ban.

Snapchat said it will use account behavioural signals along with the birth dates provided on user accounts to identify those believed to be under 16. TikTok stated it will adopt a “multi-layered approach to age assurance” using “various technologies and signals” to verify users’ ages, adding that it will share further details ahead of December 10, as cited by the Guardian. YouTube on Wednesday criticised the ban and described the world-first legislation as “rushed” and unrealistic."Most importantly, this law will not fulfil its promise to make kids safer online, and will, in fact, make Australian kids less safe on YouTube," YouTube public policy manager Rachel Lord stated, as cited by AFP. YouTube, one of the world’s most-visited websites, had initially been exempted from the ban so children could continue accessing educational content. However, in July, the Australian government reversed course, citing the need to protect young users from “predatory algorithms.”