What is a VPN and how does it work in Australia?

Australian Community Media

As Australia introduces the world’s first social media ban for under-16s, many parents have started hearing one term pop up again and again for teens determined to stay online: VPNs. This video includes ACM-produced voiceover powered by AI.

Transcript

00:00Hey guys, just going to let you know my thoughts on the social media ban as an adult and as a

00:05parent that I think it's absolutely ridiculous. I do not like it at all. As Australia introduces

00:13the world's first social media ban for under-16s, many parents have started hearing one term pop up

00:19again and again for teens determined to stay online, VPNs. As some of you may know, there's

00:26a ban for under-16s in Australia for social media. Teenagers are losing a vital communication tool

00:32and you're celebrating. How insensitive is that? I needed a laugh guys. Honestly, watching this

00:39like social media ban for 16 and under is one of the funniest things I think I've ever seen. Like

00:44I do not care. I think 16 and under for social media ban is a beautiful idea. When I was 16 years

00:49old, I wish I didn't have social media. A VPN or virtual private network is a service internet

00:56users can employ to protect their online data by routing their IP or internet address through

01:03servers in another country. Turning on a VPN encrypts a user's online activity, essentially making it

01:10appear as though they're browsing from a different location. This means users can potentially open

01:16apps and websites that may be censored in their country. So for example, right here in ExpressVPN,

01:22I'm connected up to New York. And that means that even if I was physically in Australia, when I go to

01:28the internet, it would seem as if I'm in the United States. So automatically I wouldn't have to deal

01:32with the Australian social media ban because the websites that I visit, the social media platforms

01:37are going to think that I'm in the US. That workaround is raising concerns as Australia moves ahead with

01:43the social media ban, especially since many of these services, including ProtonVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark,

01:52are either free or relatively low cost. VPNs channel internet traffic through a secure private tunnel,

02:02preventing outsiders from tracking where a user goes online.

02:05This is about putting the burden back on the platforms themselves. I don't think it's going to happen

02:11overnight. And that's why I think it's so important to set these expectations and that parents have a role

02:17in sitting down now that this normative change is coming. And when it is, when it is in place,

02:23they can target all of us with deadly precision when it comes to advertising. They can do the same

02:29with age. They just haven't had to until this date.

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