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Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nT<\/span>hirteen-year-old Ella from Sydney uses social media to stay in touch with her friends \u2013 and to help her sleep. Hitting play on an autonomous sensory meridian response video (ASMR) , which features soothing sounds like whispering or clinking to provoke relaxation and appease insomnia and anxiety, has become a ritual to help her drift off after a long day at school. \u201cI was listening to those videos nightly,\u201d she says of the habit. \u201cIt was my routine. Now it\u2019s gone.\u201d <\/p>\nFrom midnight on Tuesday 9 December Australia will become the first country in the world to ban children and teenagers under 16 from using social media after the law was successfully passed this summer. Apps including Meta\u2019s Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat are included, as well as Amazon-owned live streaming service Twitch. Tech companies will face fines of up to A$49.5m (\u00a325m) for non-compliance, with Meta already beginning to shut down thousands of accounts belonging to children under 16 a week before the deadline. <\/p>\n
Michael \u2018Wippa\u2019 Wipfli, an Australian radio presenter, comedian and father of three under-16s, was among those who led the campaign to bring the history-making legislation into effect. \u201c[Social media] was the number one topic, not only keeping parents up at night but, coming up on the sidelines of every sporting field,\u201d he says. \u201cVery quickly, this became the largest petition ever signed on this topic globally\u2026 I think a lot of people were shocked to know that the law previously said children could be online at 13. That was, really, made up by tech companies. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe spoke to a lot of professionals, paediatricians, developmental paediatricians, parents and educators to find out if we\u2019re able to give these children another three years \u2013 36 months \u2013 to grow and develop in a healthy teenage way,\u201d he says, explaining the groundwork that was done ahead of the law. \u201cMy kids, Ted is 10, Jack is nine, and Francesa is five\u2026 What we\u2019ve been saying a lot is, we need to give these kids a chance to get to know themselves before the world does,\u201d Wippa adds. <\/p>\n
Clinical psychologist Dr Danielle Einstein, whose research helped inform and shape the under-16s social media ban, says evidence has shown that, despite use of videos like ASMR, excessive reliance on social media is linked to depression, anxiety, eating disorders, loneliness, sleep disruption and academic difficulties. \u201cFar from being a source of protection, these platforms amplify self-focus, insecurity and impair brain functioning in the early years of high school before teens have the hardware to restrain thinking thoughtfully about their use,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n
Ella\u2019s mum Sally, who works closely with an MP in her position in an Electoral Office on the outskirts of Sydney, was initially on board with the social media ban \u2013 until she heard more about the planned rollout. \u201cI thought it was a fabulous idea. I was concerned my own children were spending too much time on social media, and as a parent \u2013 when their phone is in their hand \u2013 it\u2019s hard to police that\u2026 Unfortunately, I began to realise the legislation seemed very rushed\u2026 It didn\u2019t seem like the input of the under-16s was taken into account.\u201d <\/p>\n
As well as her concerns over losing her nightly ASMR videos, Ella has been worrying about the increased social isolation that could come from the ban. \u201cI usually send my friends relatable videos and post some videos on a private account,\u201d she says. \u201cA lot of my friends are really worried about the ban. I have one whose childhood friend lives in a different country. She communicates with her a lot on TikTok and Snapchat. Nobody wants it to happen.\u201d <\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Many children are worried about how they\u2019ll communicate with their friends (Getty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nTwo nights before the ban was set to come into effect, Ella shared a TikTok video lamenting the fact that the 10 December launch date coincided with International Human Rights Day. At the time of writing, the post has over 44,000 likes, 1,300 comments, 5,300 shares and over 258,000 views. \u201cThis country has turned into a dictatorship,\u201d one person commented. \u201cSo, I only have a few more hours enjoying my favourite part of the day?\u201d another user mourned. <\/p>\n
Like weaning oneself off of any addiction, Sally suggests going cold turkey may not have been the best idea. \u201cTo just say, \u2018Let\u2019s take social media away\u2019 is going to be highly anxiety-inducing,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s what they\u2019re used to. To just rip it away from children with no discussion, no suggestion of what to do instead, is totally the wrong way to go about it. You need proper planning. Proper counselling. That would\u2019ve been wonderful and could<\/em> have been introduced.\u201d<\/p>\nAdditionally, Dr Einstein says one law is simply not enough to make effective change. \u201cHistory shows that single measures rarely shift deeply ingrained behaviours,\u201d she says. \u201cJust as tobacco control requires taxation, advertising restrictions, public education, and smoke-free environments, protecting children from social media harms will require a multi-layered strategy.\u201d Einstein nods to equipping parents and schools with knowledge, time and money to make changes as a critical additional step, as well as introducing a duty of care regulation on social media sites, so all Australians \u2013 not just children \u2013 can feel better about tech use. \u201cLet\u2019s be clear, this regulation signifies the start, not the end of our efforts to find balance.\u201d <\/p>\n
Wipfli acknowledges that his blanket ban on all under-16s may not be perfect. Many parents and critics have already informed him that children are able to get around the ban using VPNs (virtual private networks) or even putting a photo of their parent or a celebrity in front of the age verification screening camera. \u201cNobody expects it to be perfect,\u201d he claims. \u201cThere\u2019s always going to be a way around things, but we have to start somewhere. There is no silver bullet. We need to change behaviour. So, we need education. That\u2019ll be the next step.\u201d <\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Some parents have criticised social media being \u2018ripped away\u2019 from teens without any counselling or support (Getty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nCould a social media ban be coming to the UK? Wipfli says there has been interest in his campaign among leaders from Britain, Europe, Japan and the Philippines. A petition was launched in the UK, which secured over 100,000 signatures, meaning it was debated in parliament this February. \u201cThe government is not currently minded to support a ban for children under 16,\u201d came the response. Instead, the priority was said to be working with Ofcom to effectively implement the divisive Online Safety Act 2023 so all social media users can benefit from much-needed protections \u2013 and tech companies can be fined up to \u00a318m or 10 per cent of their revenue worldwide (whichever amounts to more) for non-compliance.<\/p>\n
Yet, for all of its addictiveness, there are stats to show that social media \u2013 in the age of AI slop posts and Keir Starmer having a TikTok account \u2013 might not be that cool any more, anyway. Although \u201cslop\u201d might give users an easy hit of dopamine, this endless brainrot content may ultimately be turning people away from screens in favour of more analogue pursuits. <\/p>\n
Time spent on social media, in fact, peaked in 2022 and has since gone into steady decline, according to an analysis conducted for the Financial Times<\/em> by digital audience insights company GWI. Usage among adults aged 16 and older now sits at around two hours and 20 minutes per day. Still high, but down almost 10 per cent compared to three years ago. Interestingly, the study found that usage is down most significantly among teenagers and twentysomething users. <\/p>\nIn an essay for the New Yorker<\/em> this summer, writer Kyle Chayka suggested that society is careering towards what he calls \u201cposting zero\u201d aka a point where people feel that it\u2019s not even worth their time to share their lives online. Gen Z users are embracing this silence and spearheading the Posting Zero movement by either walking away from social media apps completely, sharing only to private accounts for their close friends, or opting to scroll in silence rather than share themselves. <\/p>\nSeemingly, for teenage and young adult users, we may have approached a stage with social media where the experience of being online is so debased thanks to AI-generated content that users have actually been snapped out of their doomscrolling stupor and encouraged to look out of the window and go touch grass instead. Yes, social media is dangerous, but what could really finish it off is when a generation calls it out for what it is: boring. <\/p>\n
The ban is the start \u2013 but the banality will be the finish. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n