Watch Nidhi Razdan: Understanding Australian social media ban

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00:00The Australian government's decision to ban social media access to children under the

00:08age of 16 has sparked off a huge debate around the world about whether this is the right

00:13thing to do and whether it can actually be implemented.

00:16Now when you look at the online space today, of course, there are huge advantages.

00:22Technology is everywhere.

00:23It has made our lives simpler in so many ways.

00:27It has allowed for innovation and particularly during the pandemic we saw it is online connections

00:33that allowed us to stay connected with other people.

00:36And this was true of children as well.

00:38But when you look at the downside and you look at the dark web and what impact it's

00:44having on kids, just Instagram, for example, where even an internal Facebook study showed

00:51that teenage girls were being negatively influenced about their body image, their appearance

00:57because of this constant need to validate their appearance online.

01:01That still continues to be a problem and kids today are facing all kinds of challenges with

01:06their mental health, with work pressure, with having to exceed to excel and social media

01:11puts all kinds of new pressures on them.

01:14It's also a very dark and murky place where often a lot of the bad guys find it easier

01:21to get through to children and to somehow lure them.

01:25So I actually do support the Australian government's move to ban social media for those under the

01:30age of 16.

01:31My worry is its implementation.

01:33How will you ensure that this is actually implemented in the letter and spirit that

01:37it is meant to be?

01:39Those are the details that are still being worked out.

01:42But I think that despite this being the digital age, if there is a way to delay kids from

01:49going online and exposing their minds to what is out there, the better it will be for

01:56them in the long run.