Royal praise and harsh critique greet social media ban
Grace Crivellaro and Zac de Silva |
While Australia’s social media ban has divided children and parents at home, high-profile international figures have come out in support of the new restrictions.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle say the ban is an “urgent intervention” that will help shield children from “unsafe and addictive platforms”, but argue it’s only a band-aid fix and does not tackle underlying issues with social media.
“This bold, decisive action to protect children at a critical moment in their development sends a strong signal that a child’s mind is not a commodity to be exploited,” the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said in a statement on their foundation’s website.
“The ban is an effective measure to stop imminent harm, but ultimately only works as a band-aid that does not address tech’s broken design and exploitative business incentives.”
The high-profile couple have long advocated for tougher rules governing social media safety, and were reported to have abandoned online platforms in early 2021.
Asked about their intervention, Liberal senator Andrew Bragg said Australia wouldn’t take advice from them.
“We won’t be taking any policy advice from these Americans,” he told Nine’s Today Show.
Senator Bragg also levelled some of the strongest criticism yet from any Liberal politician, branding the ban a “Chinese-style firewall”.
“What we started out with was a trial to stop a couple of social media sites (from being) used by under 16s,” he said.
“Now it’s expanded into things like YouTube being banned. I mean, it’s starting to feel like a Chinese-style firewall on the internet in Australia, so I think we’ve got to be restrained.”
The opposition has generally supported the age restriction in principle, but has criticised the way it has been rolled out.
Some teenagers have also expressed concern about their future as they grapple with the new age rules.
Carlee Jade Clements is a 15-year-old influencer from Melbourne who has 37,000 Instagram followers but is yet to be kicked off the platform, despite being removed from TikTok when the restrictions took effect on Wednesday.
She’s clinging to her creative future but fears the rules will impact her income and opportunities.
Carlee has spent years building her Instagram following, with the account managed by her mother Simone.
It acts as a digital portfolio to showcase her acting, dancing and modelling, and has helped her land paid opportunities including brand deals.
“I got flown to Sydney for an Invisalign ad that I got paid for, I wouldn’t have had that job without my Instagram,” she told AAP.
“It’s my dream job to be an actor.”
But her followers and views have plunged as her predominantly teenage audience are kicked off the platform, with engagement metrics one of the main determinants of revenue from advertisers.
“It’s really annoying, it’s everything I’ve worked for,” Carlee said.
“It’s taken years and years and years of work, and to take it away like that is devastating.”
Carlee fears her Instagram could be deleted any day, resulting in her effectively losing her job and networking opportunities.
“If I get kicked off, I won’t be able to get my income,” she said.
“I have definitely made good money to go into my savings, it helps me pay for my dance costumes.”
AAP
