Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has called social media a “scourge”, has said he would support a ban if it could be found to be effective.
Both have suggested there are parental and community expectations for social media to be better regulated and restricted – and under-16s, of course, don’t vote.
Many experts, however, take a different view.
How would an age ban work?
The government is currently conducting a trial of age verification technologies for social media platforms.
It’s these technologies that would be at the heart of any ban that’s implemented.
“The technology to effectively ban or control access or content is advancing but we know there are still significant limitations to stop access to information completely,” Macquarie University senior lecturer in educational psychology Dr Anne McMaugh said.
“Even if a ban were put in place, this doesn’t recognise or address the wider social problem.”
Information systems expert Dr Marc Cheong, from the University of Melbourne, agreed.
He questioned whether a ban – beneficial or not – could even be enforced.
“Consider current age restrictions on tangible products such as alcohol and tobacco. A vendor can verify a customer’s age using established forms of identity (such as a driver’s license) at the point of sale,” he said.
“Now consider online platforms, such as video game vendors or streaming media providers, which may not have the option of sighting one’s ID.
“These systems may ask for a date of birth upon purchase of age-restricted media or upon subscription. However, oftentimes, users may enter any date of birth, which defeats the purpose.”
Would banning access to social media help children?
RMIT University information science expert, Professor Lisa Given, said a ban was a “flawed approach” to complex issues.
“The potential harms that children face are not new; debates about appropriate access to media extend over many decades, including television and internet content,” she said.
Others pointed out that cutting off teenagers from social media could deprive them of significant links to friends, family, and community, damaging their mental health.
“Contrary to popular debate, there’s no conclusive evidence social media causes mental ill health,” Professor Amanda Third from Western Sydney University said.
“Mental health is complex and cannot be attributed to one cause. Some research shows a correlation between young people’s poor mental health and their technology use.
“That just means young people’s social media use coincides with other trends impacting mental health.”
However, Macquarie University’s Dr Danielle Einstein said raising the age limit for social media access would be “worth the effort”.
“A move in this direction will empower schools, psychologists and clinical psychologists and relieve a great deal of the mental health issues we see in anxiety at present,” she said.
Are there alternatives to a ban?
Many experts in the area pointed out that teens are adept at navigating the online world, but increased education was needed.
“We should be building a nation of digitally responsible citizens who have the skills to assess authentic, credible and legitimate information, who can engage with cultural activities and find social well-being through online digital communication and technologies, including social media,” Dr Fae Heaselgrave from the University of South Australia said.
“Building such a nation requires government support, not penalty or judgement, and a shift in societal attitudes towards young people’s agency.”
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Others called for schools to be involved in teaching digital navigation.
“Without any exposure to it, they are potentially more manipulatable by social media influences, algorithms, and ads once they start using it,” Associate Professor Jordy Kaufman from Swinburn University said.
“It might be better to handle this at the school level, where it is against school policy for students to have certain social media accounts or to use it for certain purposes.”
There were also calls for better regulation from social media operators regarding the content on their platforms.