Nobody who has ever met a teenager, or read the news, will be completely at ease with the role of social media in young lives. There are horrific effects, which have been well documented and inadequately addressed ever since the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017 after viewing suicide and self-harm content online. Many platforms, even those that seem anodyne, are purpose-built to spur anxiety, self-doubt, self-harm, anything that delivers attention.
From December 10, children below 16 years of age will be barred from opening or using accounts on popular social media platforms under new federal rules announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government. The policy requires platforms to block new underage accounts and to remove existing ones belonging to users younger than 16. Companies must also introduce systems to detect minors who attempt to access their services. It does not include video gaming platforms, however.
A lawyer said it was sobering and concerning that the Southport attacker probably viewed footage on social media of a stabbing in Australia by a teenage boy just 40 minutes before carrying out his own crimes. An inquiry is being held into the circumstances and events leading up to the attack by Axel Rudakubana, then 17, on 29 July 2024 in which he murdered three young girls and attempted to murder eight children and two adults.
