Australian Politician Who Sparked Social Media Ban Says It's 'Worth It' Even If Kids Find Way Around It

Monday, 12 May 2025, 7:37 pm
Article: RNZ

Ellen O'Dwyer
Morning Report

The Australian Labor politician who sparked the country's social media ban has admitted young people will find a way around it, but argues that curbing addiction in young people is more important.

South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas sparked the idea, initially proposing a state-wide age limit and commissioning a report from the Chief Justice of the High Court Robert French last year.

Within days the idea was picked up by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government and later passed as a nationwide law. It's expected to come into force in November.

The idea has now been raised in New Zealand. Last week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced the issue would be formally investigated and Education Minister Erica Stanford would lead the work.

National MP Catherine Wedd has also put forward a member's bill modelled on the Australian law, and ACT leader David Seymour is calling for a parliamentary inquiry on the issue.

Australia's law puts the obligation on technology companies to take reasonable steps to prevent young people under 16 from creating social media accounts, and companies that fail to introduce adequate safeguards will face fines of up to A$49.5 million (NZ$53.6m).

Platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) are included - but messaging and gaming sites, along with YouTube - are not.

Malinauskas told Morning Report he was sure an "intuitive young person" would find their way around the ban and some would lie to get around an age verification check. He argued people still smoked and drank alcohol underage, but did it less when there were laws against these actions.

"What we now know is that these social media platforms are industrialising addiction - coming up with algorithms that very deliberately are designed to have young people addicted to their platforms.

"Now wherever you see a product or a service, that relies upon instituting addiction, particularly for young people, that invites a government policy response - particularly when we know it's doing harm."

The law prompted a backlash. Last week on Morning Report retired judge and online law expert David Harvey said it was parents' responsibility to implement rules around social media use, asking: "Do you want the government to solve every problem?"

Malinauskas pushed back, saying that argument was used by those who had not parented a child where "every single kid in the class had a mobile phone", and where core socialising was done through social media.

"What this is doing is giving the parents the tool to say 'no' to their kids, without them being isolated socially."

The Australian government has recruited a UK company, the Age Check Certification Scheme, to carry out trials of potential age verification technologies.

About 30 social media companies are said to be involved in the trial, and a report was due back to the government at the end of last month but was not being made public, according to a Guardian report.

Asked if he had heard how that technology was working, Malinauskas said: "Look, there are complexities, but we believe by November this year the Commonwealth will very much have a means to be able to do this."

Malinauskas admitted there would be challenges, but maintained the ban "would be worth it".

Along with messaging and gaming sites, YouTube was also exempt. YouTube is the most popular social media platform in Australia according to Australia's independent regulator for online safety, eSafety, with 73 percent of children aged 13 to 15 reported to have used the platform.

Documents published by Australian media reveal strong lobbying from YouTube attempting to avoid the ban, but YouTube and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland told RNZ it was given an exemption on the grounds of health and education from the get-go.

Malinauskas said social media was being defined as an online tool that has a communicative effect, as distinct from one that generates one-way traffic.

"YouTube is a different product in its nature to Facebook and Instagram, there are things that distinguish it, but ultimately ministers will make judgements about what are exempt services on the basis of advice they receive from a range of services, including the eSafety Commission."

'Parents feel powerless'

Education Minister Erica Stanford told Morning Report New Zealand would be a "fast follower" behind Australia, "a good position to be in because we can go and cherry-pick what is working around the world [and] take a much more nuanced and pragmatic approach perhaps than the Australians".

"We have heard from parents, teachers and principals… how important this is and how much feeling there was out there. And, you know, parents know the harm, they see it, and they want us to do something about it. And I've always wanted to lead work like this."

She said any proposed restrictions would "go through the normal process", and not be fast-tracked into law, like last week's controversial Pay Equity Amendment Bill.

"Well, the very first step for me is to probably set up a policy advisory group. I've already started to have conversations with some world-leading experts on legislative change and what works and has worked in other countries."

She said Luxon wanted it in law before the next election. Luxon confirmed later in the show it would follow the usual process into law.

"What we're wanting to do is, you know, synthesise what's happening all around the world. As you know, Australia, US states, UK, EU, Canada are all doing work in this space, and then quickly pull that together and take a bill into the Cabinet and then obviously out through consultation and into law."

The idea was met with some scepticism from ACT, Seymour suggesting a "quality public inquiry" would be needed, with parents, educational psychologists and social media companies part of the process.

"The issue that ACT have got is not a philosophical one," Stanford said. "They know the harm, I know David knows the harm… My job is to go and find out what does work and get him on board."

She agreed with host Corin Dann it was "a little unusual" for a centre-right party to be "advocating for the state to intervene" instead of leaving it to parents.

"You're right. However, the harm is immense. There's so much evidence out there showing the harm, and parents know it, and they are powerless. I'm powerless. I've had my own kids go through this, and even I couldn't do anything about it, because every other kid's got the device and every other kid's chatting with each other, and you can't - you feel that, you can't exclude your kid because then they won't be able to make friends and be included.

"And parents feel powerless. They need someone… they want someone to come in and help create those guardrails. And yeah, it's going to be difficult and it's not going to be easy, but we need to create a societal shift that says, 'Hey, this is the harm, we all know it, and here are the guardrails.'"

Stanford said the cellphone ban in schools was met with scepticism when first announced, "but it's turned out that it's one of the best things we ever did in education. And there's almost no dissenting voices now."

'Kids talking and playing with each other'

Malinauskas was the first politician to propose a social media ban, saying the idea started with a call from his wife who had read a book by American psychologist Jonathan Haidt called The Anxious Generation, which posits that the overuse of social media had sparked an epidemic of anxiety and depression among Generation Z.

He also said South Australia was the first state in the country to implement a ban on cellphones in schools, which he said generated passionate feedback - including one principal initially against the idea who changed her mind, and said she heard a sound that she had not heard in 10 years: "Kids talking and playing with each other".

"What harm is done to them by not having access to social media? I mean what's the worst possible thing that happens here?

"If kids get off social media, if 14-year-olds are off social media, what's the worst outcome here? They start conversing with one another and engaging with one another in a way that was happening only 10 years ago."

A Meta spokesperson said: "Meta is committed to youth safety and has built many tools and features to help teens have safe, positive experiences and give parents simple ways to set boundaries, including the introduction of Instagram Teen Accounts in New Zealand earlier this year.

"We look forward to engaging with all stakeholders in New Zealand to discuss the best solutions for young people moving forward.

"One simple option we believe has merit is age verification at the operating system and app store level, like the law passed in Utah earlier this year. This approach reduces the burden on parents and teens and minimises the amount of sensitive information shared."

Snapchat and X were approached for comment.

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