But has enough time passed to make a meaningful judgement? We spoke with online safety expert, Dr Asma Adnane, who explained that real impact will take time and may not affect the current generation of teenagers, as well as the importance of looking beyond social media channels to messaging and gaming apps.
“Australia is only seeing the very early effects of implementing a ban. With any policy intervention of this kind, especially one aimed at behaviour change, meaningful impacts typically take time to emerge. These restrictions may ultimately have a stronger influence on younger cohorts who grow up with the understanding that social media use is restricted until age 16. Early enforcement and therefore impact is often hard, but likely to become stronger over time. This was seen when alcohol was banned for under 18s in 1923 and also when the Gambling Act 2005 was introduced.
“Effectiveness of the ban will need to continue to be measured for many years to come to see the true impact. We also need to look at different demographics – for example, younger children who aren’t currently using social media - what will their online use look like over the coming years.
“When it comes to protecting our children online, legislation alone is unlikely to ever be sufficient; we need effective implementation. This depends strongly on enforcement by technology and social media companies, as well as on the role of families and caregivers - crucially, the support they receive to understand and keep up to date with online safety for children.
“If the goal is to reduce exposure to potentially harmful content, then other apps and platforms, such as messaging and gaming apps, arguably need to be considered within the broader social media ecosystem.”
ENDS
For further comments or interview requests with Dr Asma Adnane, please email the PR team on publicrelations@lboro.ac.uk or call 01509 222224.
Dr Adnane has previously commented on children’s online safety and social media bans here - Online platforms need to show that they are prioritising children’s safety over their profit | Media Centre | Loughborough University