This is definitely a good place to start and it will help with some accounts but teenagers have been lying about their age since the dawn of time so I wonder what methods they will use to find those accounts. It could even mistakenly think an adult account is a teen account!

People keep saying this won’t work, but I think it’s worth a go.

I wonder how well it will work?

This is such a great idea but I do wonder how it actually stops some people signing up with fake birthdates. I have a 14 year old son who is co clever with all this technology stuff. I do keep an eye on his accounts but that’s not to say he doesn’t have other private accounts tucked away somewhere.

I’m glad I don’t have teenagers anymore and I worry about my grandkids when they get there. Social media is a cruel world.

How do you stop a Pedo from applying for a under 16 account

I think the changes are great. It will be interesting to see how well it works because teens are super good at finding their way around things, especially when it comes to technology but im all for it. If it goes well I’ll even consider letting my kids use it rather than the outright ban we have now.

Until social media giants take responsibility for the harm they cause, I support Australia’s age ban.
Algorithms which intensify polarisation harm young and malleable minds the most. If digital platforms won’t self-regulate – the government needs to step in,
The reality is there have always been various age restrictions on platforms, and since I signed up for Facebook at age 11, they’ve been a breeze to get around. I have doubts this will change as laws will never be able to keep up with the agility of digital natives. I also have concerns that without adequate education of why a ban is being imposed, and without alternatives for teens to socialise online, this may drive children to deeper parts of the web that are decentralised, and growing.
Australia’s dummy spit over kids on social media isn’t the answer. We need an internet for children
that is more safe indeed.

Love this! Our teens need much more protection than they are getting! I’m sure they will hate it but it is in their best interest!

I think it’s a good idea. Instagram is such a big thing with teens (they aren’t into Facebook, that’s for us oldies apparently!)

I think this is great and hope that Facebook will follow suit. They need to put things in place. There’s so much tech available these days and it’s too much too soon for the maturity level of our kids.

It’s great to see the government is at least trying to put a lid on social media use. Sadly, people will find ways around any blockade, they always do

The government’s decision to raise the age of social media access to 16 makes some sense considering the wealth of evidence that social media use is harmful to people, particularly adolescents. The major social media platforms have been engineered to be compelling, addictive and banal.
There is plenty of evidence that excessive social media use has negative effects on mental health, body image, socialisation and sleep patterns. There are safe ways to use social media but at the same time, the large platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook are not designed to be safe. While of course there will be issues with the efficacy of this move, and it may not be the job of the government to police media use, there is a clear justification for the ban from a pure health perspective and hopefully this will place pressure on social media companies to design their platforms to be a healthier experience for all of us.

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  • • mom93821 replied
    • 20 Sep 2024 , 10:26 am

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  Social media is indeed addictive for many people and this does indeed need to be tackled both at home, in schools and in the wider community. There needs to be greater education and implementation of the use of social media and having balance in life with screen time and physical activity time.

I agree with more controls being in place for social media. Verifying the age of anyone using social media is so very important. Children do need to be protected when online content and activity impacts on children and families. Accounts being private is so important and I hope it works.

I think it’s a good move. I just hope and pray that it works and that other social media sites will follow.
Thinking about those who suffer under online bullying or even lost their lifes caused by this, like Amanda Todd (from Canada), Megan Meier (from America), Mia janin (from London) and I’m sure there will be more

About time – let’s see what happens.

Hope this works and continues into the future

Such a great idea!

These seem incredibly sensible changes.

This sounds like a great first step to make changes and support our kids. Social media is too much for our young minds so it is great to see they have really put some thought into this and put some great restrictions in place for our kids. I hope this works.