This is the submission I made to the Australian Parliament on their dsytopian bill to ban under 16 year olds from social media.
Opposition to Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 (“Bill”)
I am an Australian technology, competition & consumer lawyer with over 30 year experience including high profile litigation in Federal Courts and landmark cases in the High Court. I have five children aged 5 - 20 years old.
I and JPB Liberty have been deeply involved in a class action against Meta and Google for many years and we have a deep understanding of the online space.
We are deeply opposed to this Bill as it infringes the following fundamental principles on which Australia was built:
- Free Speech
- Parental rights
- Education
- Privacy
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of Speech is the bedrock of democracy. Restricting freedom of speech is the path to tyranny. As one looks around the world and at history it is clear that tyrannical, evil governments restrict freedom of speech, while the best and most successful democracies have the greatest protections and reverence for Free Speech.
This Bill severely restrict the freedom of speech, including political discourse essential to democracy, of future voters at the times they are forming their political opinions and learning about the world. It will also work to restrict the freedom of speech of adults by requiring ID for all Australians online and preventing anonymity in speech and thus chilling freedom of speech.
Parental Rights
It is the job of parents, not the government, to determine what content and experiences their children are exposed to online and in real life. The job of parents is to prepare children for the real world.
The idea that the government knows better than parents is a tyrannical anathema. A blanket ban on social media for U16s infringes this basic human right.
Education
The purpose of childhood is to learn how to live in the real world, with the support, guidance and protection of parents and teachers. Social media forms an important part of the lives of adults and is the main source of news, information and educational material for younger people.
A blanket ban on social media for U16s will cause severe damage to the education of children and teenagers. It will put them in an artificial bubble and they will suffer significant trauma when they are suddenly exposed to the world of social media at age 16 when is may be too late for parents and teachers to provide suitable guidance.
Privacy
Privacy is a fundamental human right. Requiring social media companies to conduct age verification will inevitably involve identifying all users of social media in a way that infringes privacy. People have the right to be anonymous online if they choose to be.
There are many very good reasons including personal safety, the ability to express opinions privately that an employer or friends may not like.
Again, tyrannies have always tried to prevent privacy and anonymity. Free countries preserve these freedoms.
I note that this enquiry has an anonymous option, yet they Bill would prevent Australians being anonymous online.
This Bill represents a completely wrongheaded approach to protecting children from the bad aspects of the online world. It is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
There are far better approaches to dealing with harms to children online, including making social media companies liable for harms caused by their algorithms, education to teach discernment and safe behaviours online and many other more nuanced means, often at the parent and teacher level.
You can make your own submission here.
But be quick. The government only provided ONE DAY for submissions to be made.
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