Experts share insights on social media age limit announcement
Following the federal government's recent announcement relating to the minimum age requirements for social media use, experts from Western Sydney University share their insights on this important topic, including the challenges and implications for children, parents, and educators.
Associate Professor Tanya Notley – School of Humanities and Communication Arts and Institute for Culture and Society
Associate Professor Tanya Notley's research is focused on digital inclusion and media literacy. She has 20 years of experience working with NGOs, government agencies, cultural institutions, and the United Nations in the areas of media inclusion, social justice and human rights. Tanya’s recent and ongoing research projects examine adult media literacy, young people and news media, misinformation on social media and the relationship between digital and social inclusion.
"Social media platforms have often failed to put safety before profit and the Australian public have clearly had enough. However, it is vital that we take an evidence-based approach to technology policy. We need to know that policies will create safer online environments and penalise platforms appropriately when they don’t take responsibility for this. We know social media use can introduce risks, but there are also benefits – young people use social media to learn, for civic engagement, to seek help and advice, to develop their identity and to connect with others. We need to ensure we are educating young people to benefit from their digital participation and that they know how to avoid or report harms. However, we are failing to ensure all young Australians receive media literacy education at school – this is an area that needs far greater attention from Australian governments."
Dr Joanne Orlando – School of Education and Institute for Culture and Society
Dr Joanne Orlando is a leading international expert in children’s uses of technology. Dr Orlando is available to speak about the relationship between children and their use of technology at home and the impact for parenting, school and wellbeing.
“Age verification can work but the biggest issue is keeping children’s identification safe, and also the ease at which children can by-pass a law on age verification.”
Professor Amanda Third – Co-Director, Young and Resilient Research Centre and Institute for Culture and Society
Professor Amanda Third (PhD) is Professorial Research Fellow in the Institute for Culture & Society; Co-Director of the Young and Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University; and a Faculty Associate in the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University (2020-2023). An international expert in youth-centred, participatory research, Amanda’s work investigates the intersections between children's and young people’s technology practices and their mental health and wellbeing, focusing on marginalised groups and rights-based approaches.
“The idea of banning social media for young adolescents is very seductive, especially for parents, who often feel overwhelmed by the task of managing their children’s social media use. Parents really need support to address their concerns and to find ways to ensure their children can be safe online. Moreover, bans compel platforms to shift into compliance mode rather than focusing on building optimal digital environments. While tighter regulation is necessary, I’m concerned that bans are very difficult and costly to enforce, and that those resources are better invested in building better digital environments for children and educating them and their families.”
“Importantly, bans are unlikely to keep our children safer and may indeed risk exposing them to additional harm by creating environments that prevent them from seeking help when they need it. Bans are unlikely to help those children who are most vulnerable online, which, research shows, are those who are already most socially marginalised and often don’t have the support of trusted adults.”
ENDS
10 September 2024
Photo credit: Sally Tsoutas
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