He Australian Government began implementing a law that restricts access to social interaction platforms for young people. The measure is looking Limiting exposure of minors against the risks of the virtual environment and acts as a test case for the rest of the world. The authorities want Protect children from the pressures and dangers of social mediaa concern that is escalating worldwide.
Australia’s move had an immediate contagion effect on the international political agenda. Malaysia Accordingly, the company plans to introduce age restrictions for the use of platforms next year Daily Star. Indonesia announced similar intentions through collected statements The Jakarta Postalthough the Ministry of Communications still takes into account the specific age limit.
Europe Watch the ocean experiment carefully. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der LeyenShe said last September she had been “inspired” by Australia’s “bold” policies. The continental block operates in a Verification app for mobile devices to check if users exceed the 18 years; Spain, France, Greece, Denmark and Italy currently testing this tool.
Urs GasserDean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology at the Technical University of Munichplanned to expand these regulations. “Australia is cited as an inspiration in some draft legislation for similar bans in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Spain, Malaysia and Indonesia This law is likely to have many supporters“said the academic.
Other countries opt for official recommendations instead of legislative blocks. The Netherlands They advise parents to avoid using apps like Instagram and TikTok before the age of 15. The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport warned that “intensive use of screens and social media can be harmful to children’s (mental) health and development.” In USAA bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill earlier this year establishing the Minimum user age: 13 years.
The tech industry quickly responded with arguments about safety and socialization. Goalthe parent company of Instagram and Facebook, issued a statement last Thursday outlining its position. “We share the Australian Government’s goal of creating safe and age-appropriate online experiences. But isolating teenagers from their friends and communities is not the solution.”questioned the company. The company claimed that the new law “will unfortunately exclude teenagers from these benefits.” This leads to inconsistent protection measures across the many applications used“.
YouTube added his critical voice. The video platform noted that a “hasty regulation” will do “Australian children are less safe on YouTube” by removing parental controls that may be available for teen accounts.
Speaker for UNICEF Australia stated that “The proposed changes will not solve the problems young people face online“The academic community warns about the ease with which digital natives can evade controls. Gasserfrom the Technical University of Munich, expressed his distrust: “I am very skeptical, I don’t think such bans make particularly sense.The expert added: “It’s more of a reaction from concerned parents and politicians, but.” There is little evidence that it works“.
Jasmine FardoulyProfessor of psychology at the University of Sydney, wrote that self-reporting of age proved unreliable. Jennifer Huddleston of the Cato Institute warned of the impact on adults who want to maintain their anonymity. “The ban could silence anonymous users”Huddleston said, referring to those who don’t want to reveal their identity or fear a data breach in the verification software.
Mary ChaykoProfessor of sociology at Rutgers University and author of Superconnected, recalled that bans on established activities rarely work. “The intention behind this ban, Make the Internet safer for childrenit’s good, but It’s difficult to implement correctly“, he analyzed.
He Australian government defends the measure in view of the failure of previous pedagogical approaches. Anika WellsAustralia’s Communications Minister described the current situation with a powerful metaphor. The official said young people were hit with a “dopamine hit” once they received smartphones. “With a law we can protect the alpha generation from being sucked into purgatory by predatory algorithms.”Wells said.
The Prime Minister’s Administration Anthony Albanese assumes the political cost and regulatory vanguard. The president emphasized the global relevance of his decision. “Our strong actions are being watched around the world because Other leaders I have spoken to have expressed that they welcome the fact that Australia has taken this step“Albanese concluded.
This content was created by a LA NACION team with the support of AI.
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