This comes after Australia recently enacted a ban in the name of child safety, and the UK’s Labour government have since floated the policy to mixed response. So, should Britain follow Australia’s lead and implement a ban?
For better or worse, young people’s social lives largely revolve around social media and the internet. While this may make it easier to socialise and talk to people, there is a major risk in the design and the algorithms of social media. A number of social media sites have consistently failed to prevent minors from seeing shocking and harmful content online, as well as lacking the proper moderation against grooming. The lack of adequate protections for minors online is the primary motive behind the ban, as well as concerns about young people’s screen time. It might seem, therefore, that a ban is obvious. However, there is some vocal opposition to a ban, as well as issues in places it has already been implemented.
"the fact that social media is so central to the lives of young people would make a ban particularly disruptive"
Firstly, bans like these are not especially difficult to bypass. In Australia, use of VPNs to avoid the social media ban are widespread. Australia has responded by requesting social media providers to ban VPN access, but this is easier said than done. This cat-and-mouse game between regulators and users is hardly new, almost as old as the internet itself, but a highly tech-literate generation has a considerable advantage. Furthermore, the fact that social media is so central to the lives of young people would make a ban particularly disruptive. Taking away the primary means of socialising for a generation that will soon get the vote also seems like poor optics for a party currently haemorrhaging young voters to the Greens.
So, what’s the solution? A social media ban would have some benefits, but not without considerable disturbance to the lives of young people. Additionally, the root of the problem lies not with social media itself, but with social media companies not sufficiently protecting young people on their platforms. These conglomerates face little accountability from the state with most based across the Atlantic. With Europe increasingly questioning their reliance on US tech infrastructure, now might be the time to move towards a domestic social media network, with proper accountability to regulations and child safety.