Protecting children or government overreach? Western Pa. reaction mixed on Australian social media ban

Olivia Edwards understands the intent behind Australia’s recent blanket social media ban.

“It makes sense,” she said. “The thought behind it is protecting children.”

The new law established some of the most stringent internet usage restrictions outside of China and other non-democratic regimes and could be considered a precedent for other governments to act.

It restricts all people under the age of 16 from using social media.

Australia is not alone in its attempts to curb social media use. Government bodies in Florida, Texas, France and the United Kingdom have attempted or are considering raising social media age limits or tightening content oversight.

As someone who grew up surrounded by social media, Edwards, 25, of Shadyside said bullying online has gotten out of hand. She said stories from her school days and in the current-day news of teens and younger children considering and even committing suicide are consistently tragic stories that come with the territory of social media.

Questionable enforcement

Despite seeing the need for some type of regulation, Edwards said an outright ban seems like a longshot in the U.S.

“With how big social media is — and how much enforcement it would need and how big the U.S. is — I don’t see how it would ever work,” Edwards said.

While most social media platforms have age requirements to start an account, there are no checks to make sure the account creator is honest about what age they’re registering as.

Lizzy Williams, 29, of Jeannette said she was 14 or 15 when Facebook started.

“We all lied about our age,” Williams said. She said it was easy for her and her friends to type in what year of birth was required, and there was no confirmation needed that would prove them dishonest.

Dana Soltesz of Delmont said she doesn’t think social media should be banned for minors but noted it should be more restrictive.

“I’m not sure how well it could be enforced,” she said. “Social media can be beneficial in so many ways, but unfortunately it has so many downsides, especially for minors.”

Australia’s law will make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to the equivalent of $33 million (U.S.) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts.

The platforms have one year to work out how they could implement the ban before penalties are enforced.

Edwards said effective enforcement in America most likely would have to be a collaboration between the social media platforms and the government.

“I just don’t know how realistic that (collaboration) would be considering how protective people are of the First Amendment and what a large topic it is right now,” Edwards said.

A Florida bill prohibiting children under 14 from having social media accounts has faced legal challenges, as have moves from states such as Arkansas and Ohio that would require minors to secure parental approval to use social media.

Social media in schools

Williams agreed with Australia’s proposal for social media platforms. She is the mother of three young children. She thinks between 16 and 18 is a good age to let them access social media.

“Coming from someone who was bullied in high school on social media, it’s just too easy to be attacked online,” she said.

The World Health Organization issued one of the clearest warnings in September after studying social media use among almost 280,000 school-age children in 44 countries and regions, one of the largest surveys of its kind. The WHO warned of far-reaching consequences for adolescent development and their long-term health stemming from the rise in problematic social media use.

Noreen Dodds, 60, of East McKeesport said she “absolutely agrees” with Australia’s decision to ban social media for young children and teens, saying that social media forces children to mature before they’re ready.

“I think social media influences kids to make decisions they aren’t old enough to make,” Dodds said.

Jeanine Gevaudan, 52, of Oakmont said she isn’t outraged by the idea of a social media ban for young people. She is a middle school teacher and said she sees the negative effects social media has on her students every day.

“I can see how kids that are young are being influenced, and it’s not always good,” Gevaudan said.

Not only has social media affected how students interact with each other, it’s changed the responsibilities of the schools. Gevaudan said her school has implemented lesson plans about cybersecurity for younger students. She and other teachers help students learn appropriate behavior on social media and how to combat possibly dangerous situations.

Despite these lessons, students still face hardships with cyberbullying.

“When I was growing up, if you had issues at school, it was at school and you could go home. But now there’s no break from it,” Gevaudan said. “I think kids say things online that they would never say in person because they feel like there’s a shield online.”

She said she’s had to correct inflammatory language in her classroom multiple times because students have begun to form their opinions based on what they see on social media.

“I think we already try to limit (social media) through parental controls. But then it falls on the parent, and we can’t really regulate them either,” Gevaudan said.

Keeping kids away

Despite thinking a ban would be a good idea, Williams said she doesn’t see how the government would be able to effectively keep children off social media.

“Teenagers are very, very creative when they want something. And they’re very smart when it comes to technology that even when they police it, (teens) will find a loophole,” she said.

Nico Mocker has an Instagram account that he has almost never used. Other than YouTube, that’s the extent of the 17-year-old Pittsburgh resident’s social media use.

“I’m kind of wary about having pictures on social media,” Mocker said. “Those are on the internet forever, and you can’t get rid of them.”

Mocker did not think a blanket ban on minors’ access to social media was the answer, however.

“I think it ignores all the positives of social media, and it doesn’t really address the root of the problem, which is the harmful effects of algorithms silo-ing people into a distorted view of reality, and the effects of advertising,” he said.

In addition, Mocker said he didn’t know how such a ban would or could be enforced.

“There are so many websites today that are supposed to be restricted by age, and you can just lie about it,” he said. “I think it would be more effective — and would help the issues that adults also have with social media — if they regulated the industry a little more.”

UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, said Australia’s ban would push young people into darker, unregulated places online. The law also risks compromising children’s rights and severing their access to information that’s vital to their welfare, UNICEF said.

“I don’t know at this point,” Dodds said. “I think (social media) has been too introduced and too accessible. It’s already out there, and it’s going to be hard to take away.”

What the platforms are saying

While Australia’s ban is wildly popular with voters — 77% support the move, according to a YouGov survey — it has unleashed a maelstrom of criticism from big tech.

Almost all of the largest social media companies including TikTok, X and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, expressed concerns about the law in submissions to a truncated Senate inquiry before the bill passed.

Major operators including Meta Platforms Inc. say the rules are ineffective or flawed, while X, owned by Elon Musk, questioned whether the ban is lawful, heralding a possible court challenge.

TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance Ltd., called the legislation rushed, unworkable and riddled with unanswered questions and unresolved concerns.

Snapchat owner Snap Inc. said previous international attempts at broad and mandatory age verification had failed.

Kate Manka of Murrysville said that while she thinks banning social media for minors would be a great idea, she also would consider it government overreach.

“They’re treading on a very fine line between what they think is best and parental rights,” she said. “In the end, they wouldn’t be successful in keeping kids off of it. They’ll always find a way to access it.”

YouTube, deemed by the Australian government to be a health- and education-related platform, is exempt from the ban, despite the comments section being similar to most other social media platforms. Online gaming and messaging services like WhatsApp and Discord also are exempt, even though they can be used for bullying and grooming.

“It’s a tough call because I absolutely do believe parents should limit social media,” Manka said. “My kids are now 25 and 22. Around four years ago, my son decided to get off all social media because, in his words, it’s literally nothing but garbage.”

But she said a federal ban is not the solution.

The Associated Press contributed.