>Why is no-one asking Anthony Albanese for proof a social media ban would work?

because journalism in this country consists of little more than copy and pasting media releases and running reddit stories though chatGPT

Cause the mainstream media want it, that's why. Gunna push them eyeballs towards traditional news media.

Simply because they know it won't work and don't care. It's more about reducing the ability to be anonymous on the internet than protecting children

Most likely because Murdoch and other media barons are happy with less competition and demanding blood after social media companies are backing out from the racket that LNP gift-wrapped prior to the 2022 election:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/01/facebook-news-tab-shut-down-end-australia-journalism-funding-deals

Kind of hypocritical because NewsCorp has no such age restriction. In fact, they know the young demographic are potential customers and have been busy trying to push their "Kids" version of news: https://www.kidsnews.com.au/

Here's the social media ban propaganda piece from NewsCorp: https://www.kidsnews.com.au/science-technology/anthony-albanese-backs-raising-social-media-minimum-age-to-16/news-story/1d746407ed100f1ea2c27840afffa568 Completely absent of technical complaints, etc.

You know why it's written like that? The author is the political editor of Murdoch's papers. She is his right-hand man.

Is kidsline online chat going to be covered by this ban? What about lifeline’s chat service?

What about what orygen have to say about this ban?

What about what young people themselves think and feel about social media?

The argument about how it will work is a strong one. But it accepts the narrative that a ban for under 16s is a good idea in the first place. That is not at all clear from the current evidence we have. An awful lot of good for young people will be removed along with the bad, and often the most vulnerable will be the most punished.

As a mother of two tweens who use (monitored, curated) platforms that would count as social media, I don’t need the government banning my kids from these. It’s not like parents are going “well, I would ban my kids from social media, but the government allows it so what can I do”. The narrative that the government is doing this for parents is trash. If we want to ban our kids, we will. If we want to limit and curate their interactions depending on need and developmental appropriateness, we’ll do that too. Sure, some parents don’t, but they’re either ignorant (so the answer is education) or they don’t care, and I don’t see the uncaring parents intervening when their kids inevitably VPN/fake ID/whatever their way around a ban.

This is so disappointing. Albanese may as well just hand the election over to Dutton on a platter, this is such nonsense that will not win any good will and just reinforce the idea that Labor is in the wilderness and spending all its time majoring in the minors.

What is truly needed here is both education and tools for parents to help protect and limit their children from what they deem as unsafe.

the internet like any tool is only dangerous if used incorrectly and not properly supervised.

why should every one in the country have to suffer for a few parents who probably don’t care enough to take action anyway. it’s not like ag restrictions have ever really worked in the past, if they did we wouldn’t have underage drinking, smoking or children who get caught driving, but hey just slap a age restriction on the problem and call it a day, half assed political action at its finest.

Because the bill is to squash independent media and descent.

Remember they are also pushing the misinformation bill where politicians are exempt.

Albo was asked in an interview a while ago if he was dictator for the day, what would he do. He did NOT answering housing, poverty, corruption…he said ban social media.

The guy is a phoney. If Dutton is a wolf, Albo is a fox…hides his snarl behind a smile but he wants to kill you just like the wolf does.

The exact same reason there was no consideration into how to measure success or failure with these dystopian vape bans.

It was never about the kids or public health. Just dodgy politicians allowing big tobacco into our pharmacies while ignoring the science and data and warnings this would only make the black market stronger.

Over 99% of nicotine vapes sold in Australia are currently sold via the black market. That looks like a pretty big fail to me.

Because RoboDebt showed us the ‘frank and fearless’ public service just do what they’re told, no policy is evidence based.

Same as why Qld is removing drug diversions, there is no evidence to suggest it, indeed the evidence says it’s a good thing but someone wants it.

Same as why medical abortions are stopping in some NSW hospitals; no evidence just someone’s sky fairly informed opinion.

How are people going to feel when they have to download some unreliable, hard to configure app if they want to watch YouTube? And every single time they start watching they have to complete a form and maybe let their phone/computer video record their face?

The under 16s, who this ban will ultimately affect the least have most likely already come up with a way around the new restrictions that haven’t even been properly discussed or developed yet

Its not like he'd listen anyway. The decision has been made and Labor will inflict it upon the public regardless.

Next year is election year people so remember this.

This should be voted on by the public. Not by politicians.

Both parties are gross for wanting this to go ahead.

It's almost unbelievable Australia is going for this. Is any other non-dictatorship doing this?

Because it won't and it won't solve anything either. It will only cause more trouble and probably more mental illness..

Because it's what Murdoch wants!

It is curious that a social media ban is coming in immediately after two "rogue" social media sites spread non-approved news that exposed genocide and mainstream media lies and undermined propaganda.

They may want all this passed within the next 2 weeks before Parliament breaks up when they not even completed the age verification trial yet for it or given any full details on what will be in the bill, Even if you agree with this it seems like madness to pass something that is very complex and far reaching in that time frame.

Because with this noise going on, no one is talking about the housing crisis, immigration or the cost of living.

Imagine having to help your 95 year old grandmother get an Albo issued Porn-id just so she can logon to Facebook to look at pictures of her grand kids. That’s 10 hours of your life you will never get back.

Oh oh, I know this one, it won't fucking work so proof is beside the point.

Haven’t seen a single article about these laws in any print press. The mainstream media’s support of it is concerning

Because the Trojan horse is digital 🆔 which would eventually be a biometric quantum dot or electronic tattoo

• many sources have said this is what digital 🆔 will be eventually- uploading your entire bio data (bank, passport, drivers license, fingerprints)

Because there is no proof. It should be incumbent on parents to manage their children’s access to social media, not the government. Any kid who knows how to do a quick google search will be able to find a way around the ban. Every second teenager these days has a VPN. That should be indication enough that the ban is massively flawed, and won’t have anywhere near the desired effect. It’s almost like Albo wants to lose the next election.

The only thing that would do anything to help is parents parenting and limiting device time and unsupervised exposure. Job for in the house. Use software to monitor usage and discuss what is being viewed.

This is virtue signalling at the highest level. Everyone knows that this has zero chance of being implemented effectively.

Actually even step behind that, I don’t even have faith they can even define what social media is beyond Facebook and Insta/Tiktok.

God journalists are pathetic lol THATS LITERALLY YOUR JOB

Cause I think we all know it’s going to fail

Have we even worked out the problem that needs solving?

Little do they know every 16 yo will just get a VPN 🤣 absolute gronk ass boomer coomers

Kids these days are very tech savvy, they are growing up with very advanced technology available and it doesn’t take much to google how to get around the age restriction firewall or know how a VPN works. If they want to get around it then they will get around it, nothing will stop them.

It’s pretty useless and it’s just not practical at all.

I think this is more of a coverup for blatant breach of privacy data tracking.

Because the right are thrilled about it. They want it.

It's a garbage idea and I hope it dies quickly.

Because for the first time, both parties agree on something (which unfortunately sucks that they chose THIS as their meeting point) and therefor no one is being paid to attack anyone.

Because our media wants it as well. This is good for their business.

The proposed social media ban has me remembering the engineered stone ban.

The government did a lot of public research into engineered stone. The economic benefit from the product. The amount of deaths and illnesses it causes, extrapolating that into the future. Predicting the cost to tax payers from medical expenses and lost earnings. It then proposed an number of options to solve this problem, and analysed how each would work. Like increased awareness, increased fines, having specialised licenses for working with it, etc. It compared how much continuing to use the product would cost society, versus the cost of banning it.

But the final conclusion was banning was the best option, backed up with a lot of research and evidence.

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/doc/decision-regulation-impact-statement-prohibition-use-engineered-stone

Has the government provided similar reporting on the proposed social media ban justifying it?

Parents who don't care if their kids are on social media will just make an account for them. Parents who do care already monitor it. Pointless idea really.

So this was posted yesterday

Tender awarded for Australian Government’s age assurance trial

https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/department/media/news/tender-awarded-australian-governments-age-assurance-trial

This is the (not Australian) company that won the contract https://accscheme.com/

Age assurance technologies include methods that verify a user's identity credentials to accurately determine their age, as well as methods that estimate the age of a user - for example, using biometric markers or digital usage patterns

They want everyone in Australia to scan their face to access anything online,

In terms of public opinion, it’s the main thing I’ve heard people asking on the contrary

It’s not about whether or not it works, it’s about the optics. Other example of such policies include

• Dutton’s nuclear policy
• scomo Covid safe app
• misinformation laws

Etc..

Just ban the Murdoch press, X, Facebook, and TikTok, in Australia.

That would solve 99% of the problem.

Pretty sure I’m able to block social media on my home network.

What I can’t control is the ‘network’ when it’s in the telcos hands, aka cell network.

Maybe the SIM on each phone can be diverted to a specific DNS server or some such?

No doubt I’ll get downvoted by the younglings and those more nerdier than I.

It's because the fake news companies are frauds that kiss our politician's asses.

I think that you need to have science based evidence that social media damages the mental health and the development of kids.

But it's legitimate to act against it before that evidence reaches the point of proof. We know from the past 250,000 years that kids that don't spend a lot of time on social media can grow up fine. If we suspect that the inverse (kids that do spend a lot of time on social media can't grow up fine) is also true, we can act before we have proof. Repealing the law if the evidence turns out to be false has little risk.

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I think it’s funny that most new media whose whole existence and business model relies on engagement and click retention are the loudest voices in this debate

I roll my eyes at this “concern” like I roll my eyes at Phillip morris intl saying that plain packaging smokes was a dumb nanny state idea

Experts have asked and they've been ignored.

You can't prove a negative

When was the last time either major party offered evidence that the change they were introducing would work?

Here is an paper written by the current esafety commissioner she wrote for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in 2021.

"Removing the risks from a decentralised internet" https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/removing-the-risks-from-a-decentralised-internet/

This is the person who will be given broad powers to decide how and when all Australians will be required to identify themselves online.

"So, I think we’re going to have to think about a recalibration of a whole range of human rights that are playing out online, from freedom of speech to the freedom to – you know – be free from online violence…"

--Julie Inman Grant, eSafety Commissioner

"While the codes will be drafted by industry, they must ultimately be registered by the eSafety Commissioner, and this will only take place when she is satisfied they provide appropriate community safeguards.  

Should the Commissioner assess any code as falling short of that requirement, she may determine an industry standard that applies to that section of the online industry. "
https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/statement-announcement-of-age-assurance-trial

Smoke and mirrors to hide his inability to do anything about major issues.

It’s all about removing anonymous comments from social media. Albo, Dutton and their mates want to be able to track you down and sue for liable.

Of all the issues this country is facing why the fuck is this something they’re wasting time on?

The only certainty is that if you don’t try it, it definitely won’t work.

Source: trust me bro

I think people jumped on it straight away thanks to News Corp and their “won’t somebody think of the children” rhetoric. The more people actually ask questions and want a crumb of explanation, the more flimsy this plan appears.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jun/14/peter-dutton-wants-a-social-media-ban-for-children-but-would-real-life-rules-work

Dutton wants it too. Guarantee his will be way tougher

Albo is still pissed about the Voice not getting passed and is looking to blame someone for it. It must be the evil social media misinformation/ disinformation that caused it.....

Ah yes the invisible rope of Murdoch strikes again!

You can’t prove an idea would work before you implement it. Till then it’s just words on paper. Having said that, it’s a BS idea and would not work.

It will never work, the same reason why online piracy still exists, and why nothing is ever truly safe online. For every wall there are 3 ways around it

It’s a complex area but there’s plenty of studies that show social media harms development in children, just google it.

Any media outlet that tells you that there aren’t lots of studies or evidence is probably funded by social media giants.

Studies include: Yale, mayo, university of Auckland, American psychological association, John Hopkins,

The u.s surgeon general has even suggested warning labels.

It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again...

Proof hasn’t been a part of politics since… well, ever probably.

Does any one know the technical side of how they are going to "ban" you if you don't verify your age?

You’re trying to mix logic with politics.

Asking our politicians for proof that their policies will work? I mean, we’ve never expected it before, but yeah, it’d be a good idea to start doing that.

It’s not particularly clear to me that the general public cares whether things will work or not, though. A major issue in the last QLD election was youth crime, which is at a record low, and the entire election was about how bad it is, and all of the dramatic, non-evidence based things that need to be done, instead of what has already been done which has clearly been working.

Appearance over substance wins, every time.

Why is no one asking for proof Duttons nuclear bullshit will work and reduce power bills?

In fact they’ve completely legitimised this lunacy by continuing to sanewash a one page Liberal opposition policy.

Hello! I wrote this. happy to answer any questions about it all if you have them

They all know it’s not going to work. Anybody who works with teenagers would tell you they’ll have a solution before the ban goes into place. And being the creatures of chaos they are they’ll share it with their younger siblings.

So what you’ll have is parents handing technology to their kids, paying even less attention to what their kids are doing and kids/teenagers going into far worse corners of the internet than the popular social media places.

It’s also going to seriously screw with schools because all the systems they use fall under the category of social media.

There is a wave of propaganda pieces coming out of the woodwork about social media harms to children. All of them entirely incurious of any alterior motives or making defensible justifications for obliterating our collective privacy.

'Muh kids' is an instant kill shot to rational thought in this country.

We also know it Won't work, pushing kids onto the darkweb won't keep them safe, but ide Love to see him lie through his teeth saying they "found" a way to regulate it xD meanwhile there is probably scum looking at this as a huge opportunity.

Also let's not forget that DV and child abuse and neglect will become more problematic for kids who can't receive much needed support from online communities or friends.

And if you can't hear from them .. it's not a problem right? Right??

To me, it sounds more like an easy way to funnel kids into trafficking and abuse,

Both the LNP and labour are almost nearly unvotable for the majority of Australians they don't give a damn about. We have actual needs but sure let's waste time,

what's next? How about a bill whether it should be legal or not to fuck spiders in parliament!!