When they give you 24 hours to respond to an enquiry, you don’t have time to do the referenced researched work of an advocacy organisation, so you smash out something, so in true “egirl and activist” form, here’s what I just sent in:
To the Committee
I have lived, worked and socialised in online places since 2000. As an older teenager, I met lifelong friends on early forums, including people who were younger than the 16 year old proposed social media ban age. Most of these young people could hold their own online then, and most teenagers these days are more literate in social media and online safety than older adults. They are able to access information to help them navigate life through online services. Forums like the ones I accessed as a teen and now ones that are serving the same function on social media sites are a lifeline to marginalised young people. It is where young queer kids can access information on what life can be like outside of heteronormative suburban Australia. It is where young people with mental health issues can access support and information about how to support themselves and their peers. It’s where young carers can access support for roles they are thrown into way too early. It’s also just a place to have fun, explore interests, and learn to be yourself.
Yes, children and adults use social media to bully others. But people have managed to do that in other formats and “IRL” (in real life) as long as we’ve existed. There’s always an other, and those others – the queer kid, the Autistic teen, the otherwise different kid – will often be bullied, and online worlds are where they are able to find their kin and often find safety and know they are not alone.
My 15 year old nephew is autistic and has used social media – mostly Instagram and Facebook – as a way to explore his interests and has developed many skills and his language has developed greatly this way.
My 13 year old niece has reassured me that teenagers will find ways to communicate with each other in positive and negative ways even with any bans brought in – whether this is by lying about ages, by getting their parents to sign them into things, or just making new ways to communicate and finding new apps that escape regulation.
As an adult, I’m wary of giving over personal details to multiple companies based all over the world in order to continue to keep in touch with friends and colleagues. My work is based online, and I use X, Bluesky and Facebook daily in that work. Work that helps support marginalised adults and children in the welfare system. Social media is a literal lifeline for many poor people who, with a basic smartphone, can now access support and information for their disabilities, to escape violence, to deal with bureaucracy, to access food banks, and much more. This is not support that should be kept from someone because they are under 16 or don’t have or want to share their identifying documents with international companies.
Security breaches of trusted companies such as Optus left many who normally wouldn’t think twice about whether it was safe to give such information over questioning whether their identities were safe.
A social media ban for under 16s is unworkable and potentially harmful to young people who will lose access to support networks and resources. Yes, there is harm done online, but harm is done everywhere, and by driving kids underground you are not going to protect them.
This bill should not be passed, full stop.
Kind regards
Fiona Moore
e-girl and activist
phonakins.com
Send something in if you can here.
A template that might help you:
Here you go:
Submission to the Australian Government: Opposing the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024To Whom It May Concern,
I write to express my opposition to the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024. While the protection of…
— Bigger Sister Channel (@bigsischannel) November 21, 2024
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