Australia wants to ban teenagers from social media. Digital spaces are essential and experiences there are just as real as analog spaces.
Will social media soon be a thing of the past for young people? Photo: Schank/Pond5/imago
Simply block young people. That’s the solution! At least I think the Australian government wants to ban people from accessing social media until they are 14 or 16. Adults are not convinced yet. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said this pointless and discriminatory bill will be introduced to parliament in 2024.
However, he has yet to explain how the lockdown would be implemented technically. But whatever mechanism he envisions, it will likely be based on data about young people collected and used by corporations like governments, in a dystopian way.
However, such a proposal did not originate in Australia and is still being discussed in Germany. On the one hand, such a proposal is senseless and dangerous, and on the other hand, it is a reason to think more deeply about age discrimination.
In the spirit of anger and ignorant ageism, I demand: Facebook only until 60! Older people lack the necessary digital media skills. They allow themselves to be radicalized too quickly by the populism of this platform. And TikTok only until 30! Simply to give young children at least some space.
Don’t shut down the victim
Violence, fraud and propaganda are serious threats that young people face online. They are risks that politicians must urgently address. But excluding potential victims is not ‘consideration’.
Let’s move everything to the adult world. At folk festivals like Oktoberfest, there have been violent acts, especially sexual acts against women by men. Is the solution to ban women from these festivals? That would be a lazy, discriminatory, pseudo-solution that harms the victim, not the victimized.
Australian Alva argues that social media poses clear risks to children and young people, including grooming, radicalisation and bullying. He also says it is taking children away from “real friends” and “real experiences”.
The potential for real solutions
If your experiences and friends on social media platforms aren’t real, what’s my cousin’s Instagram post about her child starting school? Ask people you met on dating apps or social media platforms, people who have had the most heartbreaking moments in their lives, people in long-term relationships, and even people who have more than one child. Aren’t all of these things real? And weren’t they always meant to be?
Social media, whether it’s TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat or traditional forums, has the potential to: really Create solutions to problems in analogue. Solutions that cannot be created analogically. The Internet is full of communities and sub-communities that you would never meet in a non-digital world, or that you can only meet with great effort. This is especially true for young people, especially those who are marginalized. For them, social media can be a life-saving tool.
These solutions are reality Sometimes it’s harder to create than the internet. Find a place where queer youth groups can meet. A place that is easily accessible to everyone, whether you live in Nuremberg or Buxtehude, rich or poor. You don’t have to fear being noticed or judged by neighbors or outright homophobes or transphobes along the way. You don’t have to ask your parents where you’re going, and you don’t have to lie when in doubt.
Teenagers are smarter
Violence, including violence against young people, doesn’t just happen online. It happens everywhere you deal with them, especially if they’re part of a minority. The Internet can protect you from some of these instances of violence. You don’t have to be 16 to need that protection. You don’t have to be 14.
But what you can do even if you are not 16 is to find a solution to avoid the ban. Teenagers are younger, but they are not stupider than older people. I suspect: you are smarter. They know how to dig holes and tunnel under fences (even digital ones). This is one of their core competencies, along with questioning authority and meaningless rules.
This is exactly the kind of rule that Australian adults put forward. Rather than protecting, it destroys protection.
