TikTok block: Australia bans social media for under-16-year-olds

Australian children under the age of 16 lost access to social media this week, reports Victoria Kim in the New York Times. A new law went into effect requiring "the technology companies behind the platforms — Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube — to identify and disable the accounts of Australian users who are under 16."

Photo: cottonbro studio/Pexels

"It is abundantly clear that social media is not safe for kids," writes psychologist Jean Twenge on Generation Tech. "Links between social media use and poor mental health are larger among those under 16 compared to those over 16. Unknown adults can easily contact kids on these platforms, and inappropriate content is rampant even on so-called teen accounts."

The law will ease pressure on Australian parents, writes Twenge. It will be harder for kids to argue they'll be left out if they're not on Instagram. "If Australia’s ban goes well, other countries (and perhaps some U.S. states) might follow."

The harms from social media are relatively small, while the dangers of expanding government control are large, writes Tyler Cowen on The Free Press. The Australian government will "decide which are the approved tech companies and services and which are not. That becomes a politicized decision."

Age verification will require gathering information on all users, he writes. "I predict that either this law stops being effectively enforced, or the controls on companies and users have to become much, much tighter and more oppressive."

Cowen thinks parents -- not the government -- should decide on their children's social media use. "It is very defensible to worry that your kid is on his or her phone too much," he writes, and "school bans or limits on smartphone usage are likely to bring some measurable but small gains." But expanding "state authority over online content" is not the answer.

It will be interesting to see if the law really does limit social media use by younger teens.