The Inquiry Will Australia’s social media ban start a global trend?
Dec 2, 2025
Terry Flew, a digital communication expert from the University of Sydney, discusses Australia's forthcoming social media ban for users under 16, driven by youth mental health concerns. Sonia Livingstone, a media scholar from LSE, contrasts past and present social media experiences for youth, noting both benefits and dangers. Lisa Given, an information sciences professor, highlights global reactions and the potential shift to unregulated platforms. They explore age verification challenges and ponder if this trend might spread worldwide.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Australia's Legal-First Social Media Experiment
- Australia will deactivate accounts and ban under-16s on major platforms from 10 December 2025 as a legal-first experiment.
- The law forces platforms to take 'reasonable steps' or face fines up to A$50m, but those steps are not precisely defined.
Correlation Versus Causation In Youth Harm
- Evidence links rising depression, particularly among young women, to social media but causation remains contested.
- Terry Flew notes the debate centers on correlation versus causation and mixed evidence on harm.
Platforms Must Own Age-Verification
- Platforms must verify ages across all Australian accounts to enforce the under-16 rule, but methods are left to companies.
- The law avoids a central digital ID but requires platforms to check users by document, face-scan, or inference.