‘You Can’t Ban Yourself To Safety,’ Ex-Police Officer Warns Ahead Of UK Social Media Ban

Australia tried to keep kids off social media. But it turns out it’s not that simple.

Parents editor at HuffPost UK

“It was never going to work,” says former Victoria police officer of 27 years, Susan McLean, of Australia’s social media ban for under-16s.

The ban came into effect last December and meant 10 major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, had to take “reasonable steps” to stop under-16s from using their platforms – or face large fines.

Yet a study from Australia’s eSafety Commissioner found there’d been little drop in social media use among teens three months after the ban took effect, while an observational study from the University of Newcastle found that 85% of under-16s in Australia said they were still using social media after it came into play.

McLean, who advises governments, schools and families on online child safety, suggested that, on paper, a social media ban “reads well”. But she pointed out there are quite a lot of pitfalls, the key one being that it’s difficult to enforce.

With the UK government set to follow suit, announcing a similar ban will come into effect in March 2027, the cyber safety expert and author of Growing Up Digital, is keen the UK learns from some of Australia’s errors.

“Do not rush this,” she said. “If you are going to do it, you are better off to wait 12 months and get it right than try and retrofit your mess.”

The downfalls of the social media ban

There are several issues McLean has highlighted. “First of all, you’re relying on the platforms giving you, the government, information,” she told HuffPost UK. “You have to assume they’re giving you truthful information.”

In Australia, social media platforms were tasked with removing accounts they suspected of belonging to under-16s and data reported by these platforms suggests over 4.7 million accounts were deactivated, removed or restricted after the ban came into play.

But McLean asks: “How many of the accounts removed did the person then turn around and start a new account straight away?”

The age restriction systems are also “flawed”, the expert claimed. “This is one of the, I believe, errors that our........

© HuffPost