00:00In one week, Australia will become the first country in the world to ban under-16s from having social media accounts.
00:08With one law, we can protect Generation Alpha from being sucked into purgatory
00:13by predatory algorithms described by the man who created the feature as behavioural cocaine.
00:20Teenage addiction was not a bug, it was a design feature.
00:25And on 10 December, there are going to be withdrawal symptoms.
00:28Teenagers will be upset, some will fight to get back on, some will manage to find their way around the tech and keep their accounts.
00:35But I truly believe the short-term discomfort will be worth the long-term benefits.
00:41This law is world-leading and countries around the world are taking our lead.
00:45Denmark, Greece, Romania, France, New Zealand, Malaysia, the European Commission have all signalled intent to introduce a minimum age for social media.
00:55American social psychologist and author of the book, The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Hines, said,
01:00Australia's law, our law, is by far the most important single piece of legislation ever enacted on planet Earth to protect children in the internet age.
01:11Seven out of ten kids are suffering or witnessing harm online in Australia as we speak.
01:18Like, that is what we are trying to fix.
01:20And yes, it will be difficult.
01:21We don't shy away from the fact this is a rough transition.
01:24But like I said, every single parent who has talked to me about this since I've been the Minister for Communications has said,
01:30thank you, do not back down.
01:33And thank you for being the bad guy.
01:34Thank you for allowing me not to be the bad guy.
01:37Thank you for allowing me to say, this is against the law.
01:41The government has made this law.
01:42So I ask them to draw strength.
01:45They ask them to ask their child to write to me, if that would be of any assistance.
01:49I do video messages to transmit this message, whatever it takes.
01:53But I do not, for a second, think that this isn't worth doing.
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