As Australia pushes for federal legislation to establish a minimum age for social media access and New Zealand debates similar measures, the global conversation around protecting young people online intensifies. This critical debate among experts weighs the effectiveness of outright bans against the necessity for enhanced digital literacy and greater corporate responsibility.
The digital landscape is rapidly evolving, and with it, the challenges of ensuring a safe online environment for young people. Across Australia and New Zealand, governments are grappling with how to address growing concerns about the impact of social media on youth mental health and development. While the idea of age restrictions gains political traction, a complex debate unfolds among experts, educators, and community leaders regarding the most effective path forward.
Australia’s Legislative Push: A National Benchmark
In Australia, the federal government’s announcement of upcoming legislation to enforce a minimum age for social media access has garnered significant political support. This move largely responds to widespread parental concerns, especially given that a quarter of children aged eight to ten, and half of thirteen-year-olds, engage with social media weekly.
The federal initiative is informed by South Australia’s draft legislation, which proposes barring children under 14 from social media and requiring parental consent for 14 to 16-year-olds. Tech companies face substantial fines for non-compliance. South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas strongly advocates for swift action, asserting that “this is no different to cigarettes or alcohol. When a product or service hurts children, governments must act.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese aims to set a national benchmark, though the precise age limit is yet to be confirmed.
Support for age restrictions extends to some educators. SA principal Kylie McCullah believes increasing the minimum age will help mitigate rising concerns around anxiety, depression, and body image issues, particularly among young girls. She highlights the success of a ‘no phone policy’ at Loreto College Marryatville, which has led to noticeable improvements in student focus and academic outcomes.
The Nuanced Debate: Bans vs. Digital Literacy
Despite political backing, many experts challenge the efficacy of a blanket ban, arguing it oversimplifies a complex issue. Critics emphasize that the focus should shift to fostering digital literacy and holding social media companies accountable for creating safer online environments.
ACU Associate Professor Laura Scholes, an expert in digital critical literacy, argues that banning social media is impractical. She states, “setting an age limit just makes invisible the critical need to equip young people with the skills they need now and into the future.” Scholes stresses the importance of advanced literacies for young people to optimize the benefits of online engagement while mitigating negative consequences, especially with the rise of generative AI tools. She advocates for a shared approach involving parents, teachers, schools, and the broader community in equipping youth to navigate digital spaces.
The Australian Association of Psychologists Director Carly Dober describes age bans as a “band-aid response” that distracts from fundamental issues such as hate speech, misogynistic, racist, and sexist content, and sophisticated advertising. Dober also warns that such bans overlook the vital benefits online spaces offer, particularly for marginalized youth, including LGBTQI, refugee, and disabled young people, who often find essential community and support online.
Dr. Justine Humphry, a senior lecturer in digital cultures at Sydney University, further cautions that an over-reliance on age restrictions could worsen harms by excluding young people from important social networks and access to information, while undermining the development of crucial digital skills and literacies. This could also negatively impact open dialogue and trust between young people and adults.
Dr. Catherine Page Jeffery, a media and communications researcher at Sydney University, highlights the substantial benefits of social media for young people, including social connection, civic engagement, learning, and the development of digital media literacies. She points out that “there is no single minimum age that captures the stage at which young people may have the skills and capacity to safely use social media.” The Greens party in Australia also opposes a blanket ban, preferring harm education as a more constructive approach.
Community Voices and Research Insights
Research conducted by the University of Sydney in 2022-23, involving teenagers aged 12-17 and their parents, provides valuable insights into community perspectives. The study revealed broad support for age verification, with 72 percent of young people and 86 percent of parents believing it would improve online safety. However, the research also uncovered significant drawbacks and concerns:
- Perceived Benefit Disparity: Young people often felt age verification would benefit adults more than themselves.
- Circumvention Methods: Many young people indicated they could bypass age verification using tools like VPNs.
- Evolving Maturity: Concerns were raised that such tools fail to account for the evolving maturity levels and differing capabilities among individuals.
- Parental Burden & Data Risks: Parents worried about the burden of providing proof of age and managing consent, while both parents and teens expressed anxieties about data breaches and leaks of sensitive information.
More details on this research are available from the University of Sydney.
New Zealand Joins the Global Conversation
Adding to the momentum, New Zealand’s parliament is set to debate a bill aimed at restricting social media access for children under 16. The proposed legislation, introduced as a member’s bill by National Party lawmaker Catherine Wedd, would require social media platforms to implement age verification processes, mirroring Australia’s 2024 law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has voiced concerns about the harms to mental health from social media overuse among young teens, including misinformation, bullying, and harmful depictions of body image. This move follows ongoing efforts by a New Zealand parliamentary committee investigating the impact of social media harm, with a report due in early 2026, as reported by Reuters.
However, the civil-liberties organization PILLAR has criticized the proposed bill, arguing it would not effectively protect children but instead create serious privacy risks and restrict online freedom for New Zealanders, calling it “lazy policymaking.”
Beyond Youth Access: Broader Social Media Scrutiny
The legislative focus on youth access is part of a broader trend of increased scrutiny on social media platforms. In New Zealand, concerns about cyber security led to a ban of TikTok on parliamentary devices. This decision, made after advice from cyber security experts, highlights global anxieties about the potential for foreign governments, specifically China, to access user data through apps like TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance. Similar bans have been implemented in the UK and US for government devices, underscoring a wider governmental push for digital safety and data integrity.
The Path Forward: Comprehensive Solutions for a Digital Generation
The debates in Australia and New Zealand underscore a critical question: how can societies best protect young people in an increasingly digital world? While age restrictions offer a seemingly direct solution, experts suggest a more comprehensive approach is needed. This includes:
- Enhanced Digital Literacy Programs: Equipping young people with the critical skills to navigate, evaluate, and engage with online content responsibly.
- Increased Corporate Accountability: Holding social media companies responsible for designing safer platforms, implementing robust age verification without compromising privacy, and mitigating harmful content and algorithmic biases.
- Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration: Fostering collaboration between parents, educators, policymakers, tech companies, and youth themselves to develop holistic strategies.
- Continued Research and Consultation: Emphasizing the need for ongoing research into social media’s impact and greater consultation with young people to understand their experiences and needs.
As governments globally grapple with these challenges, the conversation is moving beyond simple bans towards a more nuanced understanding of how to empower young people to thrive in the digital age, rather than merely restricting their access.
