Worrying new evidence shows social media ban won't protect children from online depravity
The vast majority of children in Australia have manage to circumvent the country’s ban on social media for under-16s
As many adults know, after buying a new item of electrical equipment, it’s often handy to have a young person around. They can usually explain how to ‘pair’ the AI-enhanced fridge and toaster, or some such swanky new innovation, and why this is remotely useful.
So it is no surprise then that, months after Australia introduced a ban on social media for under-16s, eight out of ten young people there are still using it. A study published in the BMJ journal found that some had set up a fake account, while others were using a private browser. It seems simple when you know how.
After the UK Government announced a similar ban in this country would be introduced next year, the Scottish Children’s Commissioner Nicola Killean warned the move risked driving children to “darker places on the internet”.
That adult attempts to protect children can be so easily overcome is a worry. But this also means that forcing social media companies to rid themselves of their virtual cesspits of depravity – such as child pornography and online advocates of self-harm and suicide – remains a pressing and serious concern.
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