<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>332665</docID> <postdate>2024-11-08 09:40:34</postdate> <headline>Australia can’t shy away from social media reforms</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-332666" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/20241107153326856963-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>The nation's leaders will discuss a proposal to ban children under the age of 16 from social media. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Dominic Giannini</strong> and<strong> Tess Ikonomou</strong> in Canberra</span></p> <p><strong>Tech giants are wary of a social media age limit, saying it shouldn't be up to them to enforce the rules but rather app stores to ensure safety across the board.</strong></p> <p>The parent company of Facebook and Instagram argues against putting the onus on social media companies to enforce a proposed 16-year-old age limit, saying the technology for a perfect solution "isn't quite there yet".</p> <p>Parents and young people would carry the burden if each app needed to implement its own age controls, Meta's Australia and New Zealand policy director Mia Garlick said.</p> <p>"We completely agree that there needs to be age-appropriate experiences for young people on services like the ones we provide," she told ABC radio on Friday.</p> <p>"The challenge is, the technology isn't quite there yet in terms of having a perfect solution."</p> <p>App stores putting in place controls meant that information could be extrapolated, Â Ms Garlick said.</p> <p>"When you get a new phone or a new device, you do spend a bit of time sitting down as a family, setting it all up," she said.</p> <p>"Age information is collected at that time and so there is a really simple solution there, that at that one point in time ... verification can occur."</p> <p>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will host a virtual national cabinet meeting with state and territory leaders on Friday to sign off on the age limit, with legislation to be introduced in coming weeks.</p> <p>It was important the perfect does not become the enemy of the good, researcher Samuel Cornell said.</p> <p>Social media was a driver of risky behaviour for children and had previously led to deaths after attempts to copy viral challenges, he said.</p> <p>"I don't think it's a perfect solution, but harm is being caused to children and young people," he told AAP.</p> <p>"To throw our hands up in the air is not right," Mr Cornell said.</p> <p>Social media companies need to be held accountable for their services, cabinet minister Bill Shorten said, as he flagged further work in the field including a duty of care.</p> <p>"We don't ask civilians and car users to bring their own seat belt to a car, so why should social media companies buck pass their own duty of care?" he said.</p> <p>But there are concerns a social media ban would likely give parents a false sense of security while excluding young people from critical information.</p> <p>Platforms play a critical role in young people engaging with education, potential employers, health services and personal networks of people with shared interests, RMIT Professor of Information Sciences Lisa Given said.</p> <p>"They may be grappling with many different issues in their lives, without access to appropriate supports at home or in their communities," she said.</p> <p>Ms Garlick defended accusations the tech giant was trying to pass the buck and protect profits.</p> <p>Meta already implemented safety controls such as asking people their age at sign-up and using artificial intelligence to identify if people's age appears different from what they stated, she said.</p> <p>"We remove people who are under the relevant age and then we also age-gate certain types of content that might not be suitable," she said.</p> <p>Ms Garlick pointed to an Instagram initiative that automatically puts young people on an age-appropriate account that has some limitations.</p> <p>Meta wouldn't fight and run a campaign against the laws if they passed parliament, she said.</p> </body>