Meta has made new appeals to the Australian government to rethink its newly imposed social media ban on users under the age of 16, as the tech giant has blocked more than half a million accounts on its platforms in a single month.
The Online Safety Amendment Act 2024 in Australia became effective on Dec. 11, and it prohibited access to 10 big services such as Meta’s Instagram, Alphabet’s YouTube, Bytedance’s TikTok, Reddit, Snapchat, and Elon Musk’s X.
It stated in a blog post on Sunday that Meta has since deleted almost 550,000 accounts suspected of belonging to those under the age of 16, between December 4 and 11. It deleted approximately 330,000 accounts on Instagram, approximately 173,500 on Facebook, and almost 40,000 on Threads.
Meta added in the post, “As we’ve stated previously, Meta is committed to meeting its compliance obligations and is taking the necessary steps to remain compliant with the law.”
Meta reported, “That said, we call on the Australian government to engage with industry constructively to find a better way forward, such as incentivising all of industry to raise the standard in providing safe, privacy-preserving, age-appropriate experiences online, instead of blanket bans.”
The company indicated that it ought to collaborate with the non-profit organization, OpenAge Initiative, to introduce age verification tolls known as the Age Keys, which users can then use to identify their age using government-issued IDs, financial data, face estimation, or national digital wallets.
It noted that age verification and parental approval should go down to the app store level, with teens accessing more than 40 apps a week, and many of them not using age verification or taking safety into account, or even being covered by Australian law.
It added, “This is the only way to guarantee consistent, industry-wide protections for young people, no matter which apps they use, and to avoid the whack-a-mole effect of catching up with new apps that teens will migrate to in order to circumvent the social media ban law.”
Meta already shared its disapproval of the new law, stating “cutting teens off from their friends and communities isn’t the answer,” and emphasized that some will find other ways to access social media sites “without the safeguards provided to registered users.”
Since the ban, a lot of Australian teens have figured out how to go around the law, such as resorting to using other social media which are yet to be banned, such as Snapchat-alternative Yope, Bytedance’s video and photo-sharing app Lemon8, and messaging platform Discord.
Therefore, on top of that, other under-16s told Sky News that they are using VPNs or the social media account of their parent. It is not only Meta that raised the question of the ban, but Reddit has even proceeded to sue Australia, claiming that the new legislation is ineffective and restricts political discourse.
Reddit said in previous comments to CNBC that it can isolate teens “from the ability to engage in age-appropriate community experiences (including political discussions).”
It stated in its application that “the political views of children inform the electoral choices of many current electors, including their parents and their teachers, as well as others interested in the views of those soon to reach the age of maturity.”
In a video on X (formerly known as Twitter), Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that the ban would give back power to parents and families from big tech firms, and would allow “kids to be kids.”
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said that the ban reduces the chances of teenagers being subjected to stressful or harmful content, citing that it also shifts the responsibility for teen social media usage from parents to tech companies.
The Australian ban on under-16s using social media could encourage other nations to adopt the same measures, as the lawmakers and parents are still struggling to deal with the negative health effects that such sites are causing to the younger generation.
In a report published in 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy cautioned about a teen mental health crisis, caused by social media, in which he attributed social media use as a cause of depression, anxiety, and perpetuating eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and low self-esteem.
However, the concerns have elevated the rise of parent-led organizations globally, which aim to limit their children from using smartphones. Such movements include the Smartphone Free Childhood group in the U.K., Austin-based Wait Until 8th, Unplugged in Canada, No Es Momento in Mexico, and the Heads Up Alliance in Australia.
Jonathan Haidt, NYU professor and the author of “The Anxious Generation,” is a prominent figure in the movement to protect children from smartphones and social media. Haidt recommends that teenagers should not have smartphones before 14 and should not have access to social media before 16-years of age.
The Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is hopeful that the ban may achieve a lasting mental health change as a result of the ban, but in the immediate aftermath, results have been ambivalent.
In a BBC report, which included interviews with Australian teens, some have learned to change their habits positively, but other teens believe they are more isolated and disconnected without social media or are finding workarounds.
