Jury out six months into child social media ban

Six months after Australia introduced its landmark legislation banning teenagers under the age of 16 from social media, a leading youth support organisation reports there is little evidence of a decline in cyberbullying or image-based abuse.

Data released by Yourtown, the non-profit organisation that operates Kids Helpline, indicates that youth call patterns have remained largely unchanged since the age restrictions were implemented.

However, experts state that the initial results are not necessarily discouraging, noting that Australia remains at the forefront of global policy efforts to restrict social media access for minors.

Inconsistent Enforcement Impacting Youth

Yourtown virtual services manager Tony FitzGerald told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) that it is still too early to measure the true effectiveness of the legislation. He highlighted that enforcement has been highly variable across different platforms and users.

“From speaking to young people, particularly in that 13-16 age group the experience for them has been very inconsistent,” Mr FitzGerald said.

“Some of them have had social media cut-off, whereas [some] have not had any impact in terms of their access to those platforms. It’s been a bit messy for that group.”

Migration to Unrestricted Messaging Apps

The helpline’s findings reveal that instead of disconnecting, many young people are shifting their online interactions to alternative digital platforms, such as WhatsApp, which are not covered under the current social media minimum age restrictions.

Mr FitzGerald confirmed that the relocation to these platforms has not stopped online safety concerns, with many teenagers continuing to face significant peer conflict online.

“We’ve seen young people come to us who would say they’re being cyberbullied on messaging apps,” Mr FitzGerald stated.

“There’s a whole range of other platforms that are out there that are not subject to the social media minimum age restrictions that young people still are interacting on and they’re still experiencing harm.”
Federal regulators and safety advocates continue to monitor compliance and youth behaviour under the ongoing ban.