UNICEF Australia warns that children’s safety online is a complex issue that cannot simply be addressed by introducing a minimum age.
Today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is committing to national plans to block children from social media with age barriers, with a final age not yet settled on.
Katie Maskiell, Head of Policy and Advocacy at UNICEF Australia, said “We know that children and young people face risks online, so we need to protect children within the digital world – and we can do this by finding approaches that reduce the harms, not by necessarily prohibiting them from using it.
“There undoubtedly needs to be more focus on the mental health of young people in Australia - which evidence shows is declining. But while social media is often attributed as the cause of this youth mental health crisis, evidence says that the reality is much more complex.
“Solutions like age-gating have a role to play as one of several measures which can be used to better protect children and young people, but these need to be balanced with the benefits for children.
“Young people are telling us that being online has become critical to their healthy development and wellbeing, and that being online is fundamental to their lives. In fact, UNICEF Australia’s recent research found that 81 per cent of Aussie teens who use social media say it has a positive influence on their lives.
“Our primary focus should be on changing the very design of digital environments, by implementing a safety-by-design approach, and having stronger regulations in place that shape and govern those online platforms.
“In this regard, raising the age of social media is almost punishing young people for the failure of tech companies to build their platforms more responsibly. Both the tech sector and governments have a responsibility to step up and help make Australia the best place in the world for children to go online,” Ms Maskiell said.
UNICEF Australia remains committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders and engaging in the government's current age assurance trial to inform the conversation and support evidence-based solutions to protect children online.
For resources on how to stay safe online, visit the UNICEF Australia Youth page at: https://www.unicef.org.au/unicef-youth/staying-safe-online