Concerns vulnerable kids isolated with social media ban

A social media ban has raised concerns children with disabilities will be left isolated as a minimum age requirement gets the green light. Children younger than 16 will be banned from social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) under legislation a Labor-led committee recommended pass after a one-day inquiry. Although there will be exceptions for health and education services, with exemptions set for YouTube, Messenger Kids, WhatsApp, Kids Helpline and Google Classroom. A digital duty of care for platforms to ensure the safety of users, consultation with young people, greater reporting requirements and bringing forward the start date of the social media ban were recommended by the inquiry into the laws. It further recommended ruling out the use of government IDs such as passports and giving the minister the power to review what the eSafety commissioner determines to be "reasonable steps" taken by tech companies to enforce the ban. People would not be forced to hand over government-issued IDs such as licences or passports to access social media, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland assured Australians. The report recommended the bill be passed despite outcry the inquiry ran for only a single day. The definition of social media should be narrowed and tech companies should be banned from using the data from the identity documents anywhere else apart from to comply with a court or legal order, Nationals senator Matt Canavan said in a dissenting report. Senator Canavan, who has spearheaded concerns about the rushed legislation from the coalition camp, called for the focus to remain "on those apps that do the most damage to young children". How tech companies will implement the ban is in their hands, with the laws not mandating a specific technology but questions remain about how invasive any age verification process will be. Human rights advocates and social groups have criticised the laws for going too far, saying while there are problems with social media, a blanket ban risks cutting kids off from support networks. "Social media can be a lifeline for young people with disability, providing one of the few truly accessible ways to build connections and find community," Children and Young People with Disability Australia CEO Skye Kakoschke-Moore said. "Cutting off that access ignores the lived reality of thousands and risks isolating disabled youth from their peer networks and broader society." It was a point echoed by eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who said while children needed to be protected online, vulnerable and marginalised kids needed "a way to connect and to create and explore". Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce welcomed the blanket ban, saying wasn't perfect but changes could be made in the future and it was the beginning of the process to alleviate the problem. "These companies could have done something, it's not as if they haven't heard about this - they choose not to, that's the problem," he told parliament. Lifeline 13 11 14 Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)