The federal government’s looming social media ban could harm isolated and marginalized teens

Australia will be the first in the world to ban children from social media if the federal government follows through on its proposal to tighten restrictions by the end of the year.

The reason for the ban? They claim that social media is bad for young people’s mental health.

But some say the ban could be harmful to teens who rely on social media to connect with marginalized and minority groups.

Find people who understand

Maggie, 15, lives in a small rural town in Queensland.

“At my old school, I was really afraid to talk about being trans,” she says.

“No one knew… because it was terrifying to imagine (and) that I would really be bullied if I told anyone.”

Maggie is now attending school through distance learning and says the only thing that helped her was making connections on social media.

“When you go online, you see one, then a dozen, then hundreds of people who look like you, people who understand you, people you can be yourself with,” she says.

“If you live in a small, isolated town, you don’t have that opportunity, you don’t have that reach, you don’t get to see anyone that looks like you.

“If you’re too scared to do this at home, you can at least be yourself on social media. And there will always be people who understand you no matter what.”

Maggie is one of many Australian high school students who say that while social media has a negative side, there are also plenty of positives – especially if you’re a minority young person who might otherwise feel isolated.

“Social media is where everyone talks,” says Maggie.

“I was able to meet other trans people, talk to them, and socialize with people who look like me, even if they live hundreds or even thousands of miles away.

“And I’ve been able to bond over my love of politics and my hobbies on Discord or Snapchat with my friends and understand what’s going on with other people like me.”

A “lifeline for queer kids”

For 15-year-old Latisha, born in Australia to Cambodian parents, social media has helped her connect with her family.

“Traveling abroad is terribly expensive (but) with social media it’s much easier to talk to people you don’t usually see,” she says.

“Apps like Messenger and Facebook really help keep family connected.”

Latisha says images on social media help her understand what is happening in Cambodia and also improve her language skills.

“Being able to access social media helps me learn my native language and become more fluent,” she says.

Maggie and Latisha both fall under the federal government’s age limit, potentially up to 16 years old.

“I think the ban would distance me from my family members and make communication more difficult,” says Latisha.

Parental approval can also be an issue for young people like Maggie.

“Some of these friends I know in Sydney are considered bisexual, gay or trans, but their parents aren’t,” she says.

“Cutting off that lifeline to queer kids, like me, would completely ruin their ability to be themselves, which is incredibly important for young people: understanding that they can be themselves.

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“I would lose my job instantly”

Some experts agree that the teens who will have the hardest time dealing with a ban will be those who find a connection with things like their sexual identity, their cultural heritage or simply with like-minded people online.

“There are many examples of people finding the support, acceptance and community they need online,” says Tama Leaver, professor of internet studies at Curtin University.

“These are the groups for whom we believe a ban would cause the most immediate harm.”

Through social media, Maggie joined the teen news program 6News as an election reporter, exploiting her interest in a possible political career.

“(If there is a social media ban), I would instantly lose my job where we operate entirely on social media, mainly YouTube and Twitter, but we also operate on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. We work on everything, on all major social media platforms,” she said.

Latisha says a ban would impact her hobbies, like learning guitar online.

“Guitar lessons are expensive, so being able to find something quickly and for free on the Internet is really helpful,” she says.

“Real harm” on social networks

At a summit last week bringing together government leaders, academics, advocates and teens, federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the responsibility for enforcing the age limit would fall on media platforms social, rather than parents or children.

Ms Rowland says the government knows social media plays an important role in connecting young people.

“Social media can have many benefits, especially for young people who may be isolated for a variety of reasons,” she explains.

But Ms Rowland believes social media causes “real harm”.

“These include content that may be inappropriate for young people, the addictive nature of social media and some troubling activities that can occur on these platforms, including online bullying,” she says.

Ms Rowland says parents are “rightly concerned” about what children are exposed to online.

She says child safety – not isolation or punishment – ​​is “at the forefront” of establishing a minimum age.

Around 140 academics and experts signed an open letter against the social media ban, including Professor Leaver.

“I just don’t think it’s going to do much,” he says.

“I think the biggest challenge for young people is the real potential for a sea of ​​misinformation: how can they judge whether something is factual or not, whether it’s reliable or not?

“We don’t teach (information literacy) as hard as we should, but we’re also at a moment in generative AI where the ability to create compelling images, videos and text is so high by in relation to the literacy of the human being capable of judging this and understanding the context of this.

Latisha says some age and content restrictions could be used to filter out “things that shouldn’t be seen on social media.”

And Maggie thinks increased education could help beat cyberbullying and misinformation.

“But I don’t think a blanket ban really solves anything. It does absolutely nothing to advance the fight against these really important issues.”