Now at the moment, we don’t have a huge amount of detail on what's being proposed, but we do know that the Australians are planning to put in the highest age limit in the world.
And then put the onus on social media companies to make this work, not parents or kids, or even the Government.
So there will be an age verification tool, either biometrics or government ID, and the social media companies have to use it.
They have to keep the kids off. And if they don’t, they get penalised.
And this is exactly how it should work. Because if they aren’t forced to take responsibility, they won’t take responsibility.
They will simply blame someone else and so oh it's the parents, it's the Government, they're not doing enough, and if there's one thing we can say with certainty, it's that the social media companies are not taking responsibility now.
They know their product is bad for kids, they say they don’t let kids under 13 on, and yet – there are kids under 13 with accounts.
I have absolutely zero tolerance for any argument from these companies that they can’t do this.
Yes, they can.
They are extremely wealthy, they can pay the fines, they are – the founders and employers some of them, parents as well. They should care what is happening to kids.
And they can threaten to leave if they don't like the rules, which is what they do.
I’d say be my guest. If FaceBook or Instagram or TikTok pulled out of Australia or, should we do the same, New Zealand tomorrow, we’d be fine.
Sure, businesses using social media would be impacted. But we would simply go back to finding other ways to advertise online and make a buck like through Google.
So, the more I see what Australia is doing, the more I want us to do it too and I hope we do.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.
3 comments:
"So there will be an age verification tool, either biometrics or government ID, and the social media companies have to use it."
In other words, everyone will need to identify themselves to the government before they can use or say anything on the internet.
They can use the pretext that it's about "children's safety" (it's always about "safety" isn't it) but it's really about ensuring that adults cannot be (relatively) anonymous on the internet.
I have a strict no social media rule for my kids until they leave home. I don't use it and have explained to my children why they shouldn't, privacy being the main reason. They have no problem with it and I doubt they will bother even when they can. I feel very lucky that they have listened to me in regards to this. We as parents don't need the government to make all the rules. We can do these things for ourselves.
I fully agree with the idea but it's making it happen, the enforcement if you wish, that will be the difficult part. Parents, who presumably love and want to protect their children, are best able to make this happen but I don't know how to punish them if they don't. Maybe educatiing the parents and children together about the dangers may work.
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