Kicking Kids Off Socials: Good, Bad, Brilliant?
Instagram has been weird for me lately. My perfect mix of social media nonsense to fill my cup usually includes a blend of vegan cooking, colour analysis (I’m a true winter ❄️), music content and science.
Comment section from an influencer telling people to buy bottles of ‘saliva spray’ from her Amazon shopfront, as part of her non-negotiable hygiene tips.
But now? My feed has been taken over by Karens misbehaving, incels, flat earthers, misogyny, lip fillers and overconsumption core. It’s pretty much all trolling at this point. My theory is despite me not being remotely interested in any of these, I will run to the comments to see if anyone else is fuming like me, and then engage with like-minded individuals. It seems that Instagram can clock engagement, but can’t separate positive from negative sentiment, and serves me up another hot plate of rage bait.
It’s not been a nice experience, but I’m also conscious that I’ve been using social media for almost two decades and can separate the wheat from the chaff. A 15-year-old whose only been on socials for two years may lack the media literacy and contextual awareness to understand that Joe Rogan, a Trump-voting conservative conspiracy theorist, is not a subject expert on science despite having 19.6M followers.
Social media in 2025 is very different to a decade ago, when the worst thing was we all believed in #KONY2012 and the best thing was the ice bucket challenge. Social media as it currently stands can be so disruptive to the development of young minds, and the way it works can also exacerbate with bullying and mental health.
This all sets the stage for the Australian Government passing the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 a few weeks ago.
What is the Social Media Minimum Age Act?!
It’s a bill passed by the Australian Government, “which introduces an obligation on certain social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 years of age from having an account.” [Source].
The Australian eSafety Commission is tasked with developing guidelines on what these "reasonable steps" entail for tech companies. By December 2025, major tech platforms must implement measures to restrict anyone under 16 from creating an account. Gaming sites and streaming platforms are not affected by this bill.
So… is this good? Yes and no.
To me, there are some pretty hefty benefits, like:
Encouraging children to develop without the constant dopamine hits of social media apps, potentially increasing Gen Alpha’s ability to focus and regulate.
Fostering better habits with devices, although this might just be delaying social media addiction to 16 when teenagers are tackling their most important schooling years.
Increasing privacy and reducing the risk of tech companies using data from minors to make money.
Helping kids to prioritise other activities like hobbies, school, IRL friendships and extracurricular activities.
Reducing the chance of online harassment and cyberbullying.
The fact that the onus is on the tech companies to enforce this, with families and educators not being held responsible if a minor does manage to set up an account.
Conversely, the downsides include:
The fact that holding big global companies hostage might not fare well for our economy. Some businesses have responded to controversies by simply removing themselves from the region entirely. (Like a certain adult site that, as of today, has revoked access to the entire state of Florida instead of working on age verification.) We have to remember that the Australian population is fairly small. Australian advertising revenues are considerably smaller than those from countries like Brazil or Indonesia.
According to this source, it will cost the Australian Government $50M to enforce the ban.
Some also argue that restricting social media use will further worsen media literacy with teens, making them less prepared to navigate the digi world as they age. They may fall prey to more scams, misinformation and might not be able to tell what is or isn’t AI-generated.
Requiring users to verify their age means that millions of Aussies may need to provide social media platforms with sensitive information to prove our age, which then raises further privacy concerns.
The ban could potentially impinge on the basic human right of freedom of expression.
The biggest concern for me is that we are removing access to key information, safe spaces, and online communities during a formative period, when young people are the most vulnerable. For instance, children wanting to explore their sexual and gender identity safely, or find others similar to them in terms of heritage, neurodiversity, or medical conditions.
What’s my take here?
There is so much to be done over the next 12 months by the eSafety Commissioner and the tech majors. The outright ban feels like a blunt instrument for making change, and whether that change is good or bad is still up for debate. Clearly, regulation of social media use might have been a better first step, but it is fantastic that the Australian Government has made it clear that this is a priority. It’s stirred up a global conversation about the role of social media in our lives and how we protect our most vulnerable, and that’s a good start.
