The government plans to put a ban on children using social media. While exact age restrictions are still under review. The government is considering a cut-off age of 14 or 16. Some critics say a ban would be counterproductive and children should instead be taught how to safely navigate social media. Leo Puglisi is the founder of 6-news. And, a year 11 student, said while the ban could become law, the details remain problematic.
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00:00Look, I mean, it's very possible to happen when you've got both major parties aligned
00:07and you can get it through the Senate pretty easily.
00:09But I think first and foremost, as you said in your intro, you've got to figure out the
00:13exact specifics of it.
00:14How are you going to police this effectively?
00:16And what exact age is it going to be?
00:18You know, 14 isn't that much of a significant step.
00:21When we're talking 16, it's getting a bit harsh when you consider, you know, 15 year
00:25olds are at the age where, you know, some can get a job.
00:27Many are expected to act, you know, a lot more mature.
00:30And we're talking about banning them from Instagram and potentially even YouTube.
00:34So you don't think this is the right way to go at all?
00:37Well, look, I mean, I don't mind if, you know, they're blocking under 13 year olds already
00:42and they're not officially supposed to be on.
00:46And again, a 14 year old, sorry, a 13 year old being banned as well isn't that much of
00:49a step.
00:50But I just don't think it's practical.
00:52When you think about the amount of, I guess, technology that would have to be brought in
00:56and face ID or whatever to police it effectively, then there's obviously going to be some serious
01:01privacy concerns there.
01:03And if they don't do that and they're just asking people to check a box and say, yes,
01:06I'm over 14 or yes, I'm over 16, whatever they choose.
01:09I can guarantee you as a teenager myself, that will not be effective.
01:13And that is very, very easy to get around.
01:15Yeah.
01:16So what's a better way to go about this?
01:18Look, it's a good question.
01:20I don't have all the answers, but I agree that something needs to be addressed.
01:24The governments can obviously try and work with some of these platforms to address this
01:27harmful content that they're speaking about, which, mind you, would still exist for anyone
01:32over the age of 14 or 16, whatever they choose.
01:35It would still be there.
01:36Now, whether that's possible, I don't know.
01:38I don't think Meta and Twitter are the biggest fans of the federal government at the moment.
01:42But something like that should be done.
01:44And then also you can have education in there, education for both kids understanding the
01:48dangers of social media in a way that's, I guess, not taught to them in a patronizing
01:52way.
01:53But at the same time, as many parents are pretty digitally illiterate and making sure
01:56they're educated as well, I think is really key.
01:59And that's something the government could be doing, you know, right now.
02:02And how could they go about that?
02:04Look, there's, again, various ways that you can do that.
02:07We have in-school seminars, which, you know, sometimes they're a bit boring for us, but
02:11you can have those.
02:13You can bring in, I guess, extra funding for that.
02:15There's obviously the East Safety Commissioner, maybe work around things there.
02:18I don't have all the specifics, but I think it's something that the government really
02:21needs to look at.
02:22Because again, these 14-year-olds or 16-year-olds might be delayed by a year or two, but they're
02:27still going to see all this harmful content and they still, I guess, need to be educated
02:31about it.
02:32And of course, we know there's plenty of older people who are victims of harmful content
02:35on social media or victims of scams and things like that.
02:38That is something that obviously has to be addressed.
02:40And again, really important that the government, you know, is able to work through that.
02:44And there's obviously ways you can do that with state government and the East Safety
02:47Commissioner.
02:48But of course, that is a question for the government and for the parliament.
02:51Now, I think you started your really successful operation there at the age of just 11.
02:56Do you think that you would have been able to get that off the ground if this ban had
03:01been in place?
03:03Probably not.
03:04And look, my parents were really supportive in those early years.
03:06They still are now.
03:07But obviously, they monitored what was initially going out on, it was just YouTube then.
03:11They've taken a step back as I've, you know, turned 13 and had the other platforms.
03:16But no, it'd be really hard for it even to exist.
03:19I probably wouldn't be here speaking with you if this ban was in place a couple of years
03:22ago.
03:23And mind you, Six News has a number of reporters who are under 16 at the moment, who are 15
03:27and could very well be affected by this ban, although, you know, given the speed that the
03:32legislation might go through, they could age out of it before anything comes into effect.
03:37And would you argue the government needs to spend more time actually talking to under
03:4216s about this?
03:44Yeah, absolutely.
03:46The government says they'll do consultation with parents and teachers and great.
03:50That's obviously good.
03:51I fully support that.
03:52But you've got to speak to the people who are affected and you've got to explain to
03:54them, I guess, you know, why this is important and hear from their views.
03:58You want to make sure that young people are telling you what platforms they might be seeing
04:01harmful content on, because I think the prime minister endorsed a couple of months ago a
04:05proposal that would even include banning YouTube, which would be, you know, completely absurd
04:09when you remember how important YouTube is in a lot of people's daily lives, in school
04:14work.
04:15So, you know, that'd be ridiculous.
04:16So really making sure that young people are consulted on something that affects them directly
04:21is key and pretty much just common sense.
04:23Yeah.
04:24And so even though from what you were saying before, it sounds like you would support some
04:27kind of effort to restrict access to kids under 13.
04:31You don't think even that would be actually practical?
04:35No, because there are already, you know, the platforms with their guidelines saying, are
04:40you over 13 and you've got to check a box or put in an age, you know, a year of birth
04:45that can be bypassed really, really easily.
04:47And so, again, without implementing technology that would affect a lot of Australians, maybe
04:52all Australians on social media, I struggle to see how it could be practically implemented.
04:57If it's face ID, you can pull in an adult to get in front of the camera or something
05:01like that.
05:02Right.
05:03There's a lot of easy ways that you can bypass this.
05:04So I hope the government, you know, does some take some time to consider it.
05:07I'm sure they will.
05:09And I look forward to seeing how the consultations go over the next couple of weeks and months.
05:13And what are the privacy concerns in relation to this?
05:16I think obviously people are concerned about, and again, mind you, there's not all the details
05:21there yet, but whether they have to put in, you know, their Medicare or their passport
05:24details into Twitter or into Meta when they've never had to before.
05:31Maybe they're, you know, just totally anonymous at the moment.
05:34And they're concerned that things are going to be hacked or they're going to lose that
05:37information.
05:38And of course, mind you, depending on, again, what year the ban is, if you're putting in
05:42a formal ID, well, a lot of 14 to 16 to 17 year olds don't have a formal ID.
05:46And I don't think they'll accept my normal school ID.
05:50So again, it's just a practical thing, which is why consultation is really important.
05:54And so how do you, taking all that into account, how do you think this is going to end up?
06:00I wouldn't be surprised if, and look, I'm not the best with predictions.
06:03I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually gets through Parliament, as you said at the top,
06:06right, both the government and the opposition are in favour of it.
06:11But look, this could be pushed down the road and maybe it'll be delayed until the next
06:16election, depending on the scheduling of that and just how things go.
06:19But again, I really think that as long as it takes to get proper consultation and you'd
06:23hate to see this rush just for the sake of it or rushing it in time for an election,
06:28you want to make sure proper consultation with all affected parties, especially the
06:32people you're actually talking about banning.
06:34And you want to make sure that is dealt with and young people are consulted, as you said.
06:39And Leo, how did the history exam go this afternoon?
06:42I think it went well, 1949 to 1976, Chinese revolution.
06:47And I think it's going well.
06:48I should be able to pass that and get in the interviews in time.
06:52So I think it's going well.