Almost all children under 16 are still using social media despite the federal Government’s controversial world-first ban, according to an eSafety Commission report. Source: 9news.com.au.
The report revealed that 80 per cent of surveyed children aged eight to 12 and 95 per cent of children aged 13 to 15 used one or more social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch, YouTube and Discord – last year.
Of those children, 54 per cent accessed social media through their parent’s or carer’s account while 36 per cent had their own account on at least one of those services.
Instagram and Snapchat reported having more than one million users aged 13 to 17, YouTube had more than 643,600, TikTok had more than 522,800, Facebook had 455,000, Discord had 222,100 and Twitch had 24,400.
Reddit was unable to record how many underage users it had on its platform.
This is despite the Albanese Government passing a social media ban for children under 16 in November – a move criticised as rushed and ill-considered by some politicians, experts and the industry.
The ban relies on truthful age declaration, so the social media platforms can appropriately block users under 16 from making an account.
The eSafety Commission noted the rules have been “insufficient in preventing many under-13 users from creating an account for services that are not suitable for them”.
According to the report, there was no baseline or consistency across the industry which revealed a disconnect between terms of use and how they are enforced.
In the report foreword, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant called on social media service providers to comply with basic online safety expectations and the law, the social media minimum age and emerging international requirements.
“Parents and carers, educators, policymakers, and technology developers all have a role to play in fostering safer digital spaces.”
FULL STORY
Most children under 16 still using social media despite world-first ban, eSafety Commissioner reports (By Yashee Sharma, 9news.com.au)
