2025-12-10
28 分钟This is The Guardian Today, Australia's teens get chucked off social media.
This morning we are just days away from the start of Australia's world first social media ban for teens.
Look it feels like every day we're getting a little bit more information about how this will be rolled out.
This is the greatest social experiment involving our digital native kids that there has ever been.
The day that teenagers across Australia have been dreading, it's finally here.
From today, snap streaks across the country will be broken,
memes will go unmade, halls will remain unboxed.
and millions of under-16s will be cut off from the world's largest social media platforms.
Australia's attempting a world first, banning children from platforms like Instagram and Snapchat,
and forcing the tech price to run them to comply.
And young people are, well, absolutely furious.
I feel as if it's a very short-sighted idea,
because a 16-year-old having no experience with the internet is suddenly thrown headfirst into something that's meant to be curated for adults,
right?
I just don't think banning it outright will fix the solution and not only that but I don't think that it takes into consideration people with disabilities and neurodivergent people and just people who feel isolated in general.
And the fact that it's simply being taken away because of harmful content creators.
The harmful content won't stop, and bullying and online harassment doesn't stop at 16.
The government says it's doing it for their own good, and no,
they don't care if all the other countries let their kids go on TikTok.
But as the ban comes into force, will or can it work?