Responding to proposals by the Australian government to ban social media access for children under the age of 16, Amnesty International Australia’s campaigner Nikita White, said:
“Rather than banning children and young people from social media, the Albanese government should regulate it to protect children’s privacy and personal data while prioritising their human rights.
“Children and young people can experience significant harm from social media, but so too can adults. The government should prioritise forcing social media companies to remove harmful content from their sites, including graphic content and hate speech, and providing users better transparency and control over platform algorithms.
“Additionally, the proposed age verification methods, which involve biometrics or document uploads to platforms with poor data protection history, could infringe on privacy rights.
“As previously stated by Amnesty International, the surveillance-based business models of Meta and Google are fundamentally incompatible with privacy rights and cause systematic harm.
“Any proposal that would see Australians forced to upload their personal identification documents or facial biometrics to social media companies, or private third parties creates an unacceptable risk to Australians’ human right to privacy.
“Social media offers children, and young people benefits such as inclusion, social connection and a sense of belonging all of which support their mental health.
“It also allows young people to connect, to learn, to express themselves, and to hold the powerful to account.
“A ban that isolates and removes these connections will not achieve the government’s objectives of improving young people’s lives.”
Amnesty International Australia’s campaigner Nikita White
“A ban that isolates and removes these connections will not achieve the government’s objectives of improving young people’s lives.”
Background
In September the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced plans to introduce legislation banning children under 16 from social media.
He said the proposed Bill aims to address the harms children and young people face on social media platforms.
In his announcement, Albanese highlighted the risks to children’s physical and mental health from excessive social media use.
The ban will affect access to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X.
Australia’s online regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, would be responsible for enforcing the laws if enacted.
An age-verification system is currently being trialed as part of measures to prevent children from accessing social media platforms.
On Monday, the Parliamentary Committee assessing social media’s impact on young people presented its report recommending that the government should find better ways to enforce laws on social media but did not decide on the proposed ban.
