How Banning Social Media in Australia Could Complicate Things for Vulnerable People

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Experts caution that individuals escaping domestic violence, experiencing hate, or searching for safety online might face significant barriers as the social media ban is set to be enforced later this year.

The Australian government plans to enforce social media limitations for users under 16 and might mandate them to submit government ID to continue using their online profiles.

Dana McKay, RMIT’s associate dean of interaction, technology, and information, informed SBS News: “While the restriction might succeed in reducing young people’s social media use for many, it will make life considerably more challenging for those most vulnerable.”

Most vulnerable could be worst affected

McKay said linking a social media profile to known facts or government records, such as a driver’s licence, relies on the social media profile having the same details as those facts, including name and birthdate.

This means people whose names don’t align perfectly, such as teachers who use maiden names to avoid being discovered by their students, could lose access to their accounts.

Others who may be hiding from abuse or vilification, such as members of the LGBTIQ+ community, could also be harmed.

“Lots of people have names on social media that are not their real names; there’s a whole trend on Facebook of people using their middle name as their surname,” she said.

“Individuals exploring their queer identities but still linked with family through social media may find themselves cut off from expressing their genuine selves online.”

These more secretive accounts can be a lifeline for people escaping dangerous circumstances, McKay said.

“Sometimes people who are fleeing domestic and family violence will even set these profiles up before they leave because we know that online information sources are actually quite important in helping people leave as well,” she said.

“So being able to set up those communities knowing that you’re not going to lose touch with people as a result of having to run can be quite important.”

People from non-European backgrounds could also be unintentionally affected, McKay said.

“If your name is not written in Latin script originally, there could be multiple spellings of your name, and that could result in different names on social media and potentially not the one that you want to use on your government documentation,” she said.

She said it’s important to note that some users could create anonymous accounts for “nefarious” reasons, which could be combatted by the new ban.

Margin of error

The new ban will be implemented in approximately 100 days, and a federal government report has outlined how the technology is expected to function.

A report released this week by the government argues ‘age assurance technology’ can be implemented “efficiently and effectively”.

However, the report itself acknowledges that these methods of ‘age-verification’, ‘age-estimation’, and ‘age-inference’ have a margin of error.

Justine Humphry, a senior lecturer in digital cultures at The University of Sydney, said inaccuracies in age assurance technology could be more common in some demographics.

“These discrepancies indicate that diverse user groups might face inaccurate technology predictions, particularly affecting older adults, non-Caucasian populations, and those presenting as female,” she noted.

Humphry said if technologies that restrict age based on these methods are introduced by platform companies without addressing the existing problems, “there is a strong likelihood that these will compound existing barriers and inequalities of access and use”.

“There are potential risks to users’ data privacy, especially with regard to over-retention of data, digital tracking and cross-service data reuse.”

The government has indicated it will continue to refine the implementation and enforcement of the new laws later this year.