Young people will find it harder to access mental health support and make their voices heard if they are banned from social media, youth groups warn.
The government will introduce a minimum age for social media access before the end of 2024 in a bid to protect young people risks to their mental health and safety, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed.
The Commonwealth has not decided on a cut-off age but children aged 14 to 16 are under consideration and an age-verification trial will be held to examine ways to enforce these limits.
But Caroline Thain, a national clinical advisor at youth mental health foundation Headspace, says the proposal could have consequences for young people, particularly those from marginalised or remote communities.
“Some of those populations are incredibly vulnerable and disconnected and social media provides that sense of connection,” she told AAP.
“Limiting access to social media can actually prevent young people reaching out and finding access to mental health supports.”
This is a concern for all youth mental health services and while Headspace welcomed the government’s steps to improve online safety, young Australians must be part of the conversation, Ms Thain said.
But a ban could make it harder for teenagers to make their concerns known across a range of issues.
Australian Youth Climate Coalition director Violet Cully says social media has become a vital platform for her movement.
“Being able to connect across the continent, across the globe – to share our stories as the generation that’s going to be most impacted by the climate crisis – is so important, and that’s something social media facilitates very well,” she told AAP.
“Disconnecting people from that would shut off one of the most important voices in this fight.”
Young people were moving away from traditional forms of media, Ms Cully said, and many now relied on digital platforms to learn and connect with issues they cared about.
“As more young people become politically active, I think a lot of politicians feel quite threatened by that,” Ms Cully said.
The government has acknowledged there are benefits but argued young people were experiencing online bullying and noted the internet often provided them with access to material that could cause social harm.
“This is something that has been a scourge of young people throughout the western world,” Mr Albanese said during Question Time on Tuesday.
But Australian Association of Psychologists director Carly Dober says a ban distracts from the real issues.
“The fundamental issues around how the internet can be unsafe for people has not changed,” she told AAP.
“There’s still hate speech and deeply misogynistic, deeply racist, deeply sexist content online … (children will) still be targeted with very sophisticated ads designed purely to make them consume different products and services.”
The government is working with states and territories to create a uniform framework.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said social media had been an “unregulated” global experiment on young people and lauded a South Australian proposal which would allow social media access for children from 14 to 16 with parental consent and bans anyone younger.
Victoria is also working with the SA and federal governments to introduce social media age limits.
Parents were highly concerned and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said she had even banned social media platforms in her own household.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles noted social media could “leave a scar for life” and supported the Commonwealth’s moves.
Federal opposition communications spokesman David Coleman strongly supported age verification for social media but believed it should be limited to those aged 16 and above.
