Wed Sep 11

Should parents be worried about social media? We asked 5 experts

Written by Judith Ireland, Education Editor, The Conversation, Australia

The Albanese government has announced it will introduce a social media ban ^[1] for children.

The government has not yet nominated a minimum age but is trialling age-assurance mechanisms for those aged 13–16. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the legislation will be introduced this year.

This follows criticism from a range of experts, who argue it will be difficult to enforce ^[2] and does not take into account the positive impacts ^[3] of social media for young people.

Announcing the ban on Tuesday, Albanese highlighted parental concerns ^[4] about their kids being on social media.

Parents are worried sick about this. We know they’re working without a map – no generation has faced this challenge before.

Which is why my message to Australian parents is we’ve got your back. We’re listening and determined to act to get this right.

So, should parents be worried about social media? We asked five experts.

Three out of five said no.

Here are their detailed responses.

Disclosure statements Catherine Page Jeffery has received funding from the federal government through the Online Safety Grants Program, as well as from the Australian Research Council. She is a board member of Children and Media Australia. Daniel Angus receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is an Associate Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making & Society. Jo Robinson sits on an advisory board for Meta. Orygen has received funding from Meta for the translation of #chatsafe guidelines and resources, which aim to help young people communicate safely online about suicide and self-harm. She has received funding from the Commonwealth Department of Health, the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council. She sits on the board of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. Nandi Vijayakumar receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council. Stephanie Wescott receives funding from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS).