Australia Has Just Removed Children from Social Media. (Is the U.S. Following Soon?) - Cal Newport

      As of last week, children under 16 in Australia are prohibited from using a variety of popular social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and notably, TikTok.

      The law mandates that these companies identify and deactivate accounts belonging to users under 16 and prevent them from creating new accounts in the future. Noncompliance could result in fines as high as $33 million.

      Since the proposal a year ago, the ban has faced criticism from tech companies who claimed that determining the ages of users is beyond the capabilities of their engineers. There has also been some resistance from civil liberties organizations concerned about privacy and free speech issues.

      However, the government has remained resolute, asserting its commitment to addressing "design features that encourage [children] to spend more time on screens while also presenting content that could negatively impact their health and wellbeing."

      It became challenging for them to act otherwise after a study they commissioned earlier this year revealed some concerning trends:

      - 96% of children aged 10-15 in Australia use social media.

      - 7 out of 10 had encountered harmful content.

      - More than half had been victims of cyberbullying.

      - 1 in 7 faced grooming-type behavior.

      The obvious follow-up question for Americans is: Would such a ban be legally possible in our country? (Setting aside political support for such regulation, which is a separate issue entirely.)

      In January, I explored this question for The New Yorker. For this article, I spoke with Meg Jones, a colleague at Georgetown's Center for Digital Ethics, who works at the intersection of technology and law. I asked her to clarify how regulators decide when it's appropriate to impose a ban on something harmful to children.

      I recommend reading the complete article to gain more insight into the legal aspects involved. However, for those looking enviously at our counterparts in Australia, I will share Jones's prediction: “I think age verification will pass constitutional scrutiny this year, and we are likely to see a surge of state laws regulating social media for kids,” she stated. “Or maybe that’s just my wishful thinking.” I'm hoping for the same.

Other articles