With the ban, Australia sees itself as a pioneer in digital youth protection. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke on Wednesday of a “day of pride” for himself and his government. Many international media reported in detail about the world’s first law of its kind. Gaps in the age test became apparent in the first hours after the new regulations came into effect. Many young people reported that they still had access to their social media accounts. In many cases they did this on networks that were now supposedly inaccessible to them.
Not much has changed since then. “Still here,” one user wrote under a Tiktok video in which Albanese promoted the ban. Many of the more than 2,000 comments on the post sounded similar: “You blocked five people, buddy,” it said, and: “My mother was blocked.” Australian media reported on users like 14-year-old Arlo, who was able to continue using his accounts even though he had truthfully provided information about his age on several occasions. Ober about the 30-year-old dance teacher Kiera Cronk, whose accounts were blocked despite presenting ID cards. Some users reported that they bypassed the blocks using a so-called VPN or simply made faces during facial recognition.
Scorn and ridicule are not surprising
The scorn and ridicule poured out in the comments about the head of government comes as no surprise. Ultimately, what the government had always predicted only happened. After the law was passed, Albanese warned more than a year ago that it would be anything but easy. Otherwise many people would have tried it beforehand. He now repeated the assessment in a radio interview: “Of course it’s not going smoothly,” said Albanese. “You can’t block over a million accounts in one fell swoop in one day. But it happens,” said the head of government.
The question now is whether the teething problems can be remedied and whether a system will ultimately be created that really protects children more strongly from harmful content on social media. The platforms had at least twelve months to adapt to the new age restrictions. Australia’s online safety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, who once worked for companies such as Microsoft and Twitter, has now ordered her to provide information about how many accounts have been deleted. She wants to make the results public in two weeks. The companies should then provide monthly updates for six months.
In addition to Reddit, two Australian teenagers are also suing against the law, supported by an organization for freedom of expression on the Internet. The company announced on Wednesday that it wanted to implement the government’s guidelines. However, it expressed “concern” about the possible impact and described the application of the ban as “arbitrary and legally flawed”. Some platforms that obviously have to fall under the new law are excluded. The company also argues in its application to the court that the essence of its platform is the exchange of information and its evaluation, not social interaction.
