Australia is set to ban social media platforms for people below a minimum age with an aim of reducing mental and physical harm. But the impending move is raising concerns about further damage.
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00:00Like most Australian teens, 14-year-old Ben Kikos spends a lot of time browsing social media.
00:06But he may not be able to access these sites for much longer.
00:10The Australian government is planning to introduce a bill that will ban young people from social media platforms
00:15like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok by the end of this year.
00:19The aim is to limit the risk to young people's mental and physical health.
00:24But Kikos says the ban could instead make him feel further isolated.
00:29Being autistic, I have a really really hard time connecting with others
00:33and doing that online makes it a lot easier, a lot less stressful for me
00:40and also connecting with a lot more people.
00:44He is not the only one concerned.
00:46The legislation will impose and enforce a minimum age to use social media sites.
00:51The details have yet to be revealed, but the government is looking at setting it between 14 and 16 years old.
00:58When the scheme was announced last month,
01:00Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said social media addiction was taking children away from real life experiences with friends and family.
01:07I want to see kids off their devices and onto the footy fields and the swimming pools and the tennis courts.
01:14There are also major concerns about online bullying.
01:18People feel like they can be more confident on social media because you're behind a screen.
01:23But that also means that bullies can be confident and that's not a good thing.
01:27They can just go, hey you're ugly and not feel anything because it's a text.
01:31The ban is also in response to predatory grooming and easy access to adult content including pornography,
01:38which some critics say can normalise sexism and sexual violence.
01:42But digital culture experts from the University of Sydney believe a complete ban is not the right path to solve these issues,
01:50saying it could limit young people's access to critical support and meaningful social connection.
01:55Social media does present challenges and harms that young people experience.
02:02However, a ban is not the best way to go.
02:07There are a number of different strategies for addressing the kinds of challenges and negative experiences that young people encounter on social media.
02:15For long-term and more positive outcomes, Dr Humphrey recommends educating young users and parents on the potential risks of social media,
02:24more effective parental controls, giving young people more control over their content,
02:29stronger regulations on advertising and greater government pressure on platform providers to respond to requests.
02:36Many teens here say they use social media for motivation and fear being left out of the rest of the world should a total ban be put in place.
02:44Well, in my opinion, I think they could ban certain videos that people can watch and say you can't post until you're 16 and over.
02:54And commenting should be banned. I don't know.
02:59Despite opposition, the federal government is currently pushing forward with an age verification trial as they move towards a concrete ban.
03:07But months before it's set to be enforced, the ban's effectiveness is already being put under the microscope.
03:13James Lin and Rosie Greninger for Taiwan Plus.