On December 10, Australia implemented a groundbreaking ban, marking the first such measure globally.
“We are setting a global precedent,” Wells stated during an interview with Today.
In the same press briefing, Wells conceded that while Australia’s ban on social media for young users is pioneering, it is not without its flaws. Efforts are underway to refine the legislation further.
Social media platforms with age restrictions will continue to identify and remove accounts belonging to users under the age of 16 as they are discovered or created.
Even after eliminating over half a million accounts, Meta has voiced its concerns regarding the new ban.
“The foundation of this law, which restricts those under 16 from having social media accounts to shield them from an ‘algorithmic experience,’ is misguided,” commented Kathleen Walsh, Meta’s senior account executive.
“Platforms that allow teens to still use them in a logged-out state still use algorithms to determine content the user may be interested in – albeit in a less personalised way that can be appropriately tailored to a person’s age.”
She said the ban may also isolate teens from supportive online communities.
“There’s a lot of loopholes,” Alicia Liu, 13, said on the day the ban came into effect.
At the time she’d only been barred from one platform, Snapchat, and had already found a workaround.
Four of her friends, all aged 14, had not had any of their social media accounts removed.
”Right now I think a lot of teens, the way they help or keep their mental health stable is on social media, talking to their friends or watching creators that help,” Rose Pickles, 14, said at the time.
“The social media ban feels like a punishment for something we didn’t create.”
