South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has joined forces with New South Wales Premier Chris Minns to stage a summit in October to debate tighter and higher age restrictions for social media use. Source: The Australian.
The escalated domestic terror threat and the false claims driving race riots in Britain show why social media companies must be reined in to protect the young from radicalisation and misinformation, Mr Malinauskas has declared amid the growing push to impose greater control on digital publishers.
The first iteration of the SA plan would impose a blanket ban on all children under the age of 14 having access to a social media account, and require parental consent for children aged 14 and 15.
The SA Government has enlisted former High Court chief justice Robert French to advise on how these and potentially other restrictions could be constitutionally sound and consistent with free speech principles.
Mr Malinauskas said the events of last week had underscored the urgency amid mounting evidence that young people were being drawn to extreme and fallacious content that often advocated violence.
The Premier held two key meetings last week, one with Mr French about his proposals and the other with SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens about the ASIO terror warning, and has also spoken to other premiers who share his concerns about the role of social media platforms in radicalising and misleading young people.
“We know that social media is a dangerous source of disinformation. That’s now starting to manifest itself in really concerning consequences.
“The terror threat going up in Australia and the events in the UK during the course of this week were exclusively the result of information on social media platforms. That at the very least serves as a powerful reason to protect young people from this.”
The joint summit with the Minns Government will be held over two days in both Sydney and Adelaide in October.
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Premiers join forces to protect our young from social media (By David Penberthy, The Australian)
