Australia Defends Teen Social Media Ban as US Lawmakers Protest Over ‘Foreign Overreach’ | APT - video Dailymotion

APT

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant pushed back against criticism from major US tech firms and American lawmakers as the country’s world-first ban on social media access for under-16s takes effect. She argued that addictive platform design harms children and said many US parents support stronger protections. Platforms including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat have confirmed compliance, even as a US congressional committee demands Inman Grant testify over alleged First Amendment concerns.  #Australia #SocialMediaBan #teensafety   Australia social media ban, teen social media restrictions, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, US congressional criticism, First Amendment concerns, online safety for children, Australia digital regulation, Meta Instagram ban, TikTok youth safety, Snapchat restrictions, YouTube under-16 ban, global tech regulation, child protection laws, harmful platform design, Big Tech backlash, teen internet safety, technology policy news, world first social media ban, US Australia tensions

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00:01And then down to me.

00:04Back my way.

00:06And then they come in.

00:08Looking over this way, yeah.

00:10Back down this way.

00:12I'll do one last one for the length.

00:14Sorry, everybody wants me to look stern.

00:16No, I just realized.

00:18Out over this way a little bit, yeah.

00:22A little bit closer.

00:24Innocent Little Girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party.

00:29Well, this is Australia calling time on social media.

00:35And the deceptive and harmful design features tethering our children to their platforms,

00:42gamifying it through endless scroll and snap streaks and autoplay,

00:48sending them down dangerous rabbit holes.

00:53It's built into the system to keep stickiness through outragement.

00:59So the reason the Andrew Tates of the world and the online misogynists are getting so much traction

01:05is because the system is built to promote that kind of outrage.

01:10So the U.S. is a big question mark of all this.

01:14There's a big free speech kind of component.

01:17We have young Australians who have literally taken their lives as a result of accessing these platforms.

01:23So when their lawyer wills back it up about, do you know about free speech?

01:29Well, do you know that we actually have laws?

01:33And we expect any company that is providing services in Australia to abide with our laws.

01:42And so that's another thing that's very interesting to me, this whole concept of technological exceptionalism.

01:49There is no other consumer facing industry in the world where we don't expect them to make sure that there are safety standards.

02:10Nothing that we do here in Australia undermines the freedom of speech of Americans.

02:18While the tech giants are extracting our citizens' data and commodifying our kids,

02:25which is why we have these expectations of safety,

02:29nothing that we do here prevents American platforms from showing anything they want.

02:35...that they're safe. You know, we don't import medicines or medical devices until they're out.

02:41It's built into the system to keep stickiness through outragement.

02:47And this is where I hear from the parents and the activists and everyday people in America.

02:54We wish we had an e-safety commissioner like you in America.

02:59We wish we had a government that was going to put tween and teen safety before technology profits.

03:07It's going to happen at the house level. But I'd also say that nothing that we do here in Australia...

03:16Right. Well, I mean, we've tried to be flexible and pragmatic in our approach and it will be firm when it needs to be.

03:23And, of course, the fine is $49.5 million.

03:28In my experience, after 22 years in the technology industry and nine years as a technology regulator,

03:36sometimes it isn't the regulation itself that is the impetus for doing the right thing.

03:44It's often the reputational damage and the undermining of trust with the public.

03:50And in Australia, the trust in the technology sector is very low.

03:56...to the social media delay that we're implementing. We've been operating for 10 years...

04:01...based abuse. And then we have systemic powers called the codes and standards.

04:06But I think one of the reasons they pushed so violently back against this policy is because it directly goes to revenue.

04:15And there are 2.5 million 8 to 15 year olds in Australia before this policy came through or other policies across Europe, for instance.

04:29The companies have had... We know 84% of 8 to 12 year old Australians had a social media account last year.

04:38So even with the age being 13, we know the preponderance of young people have been online.

04:45So they can no longer turn a blind eye.

05:00...

Australia Defends Teen Social Media Ban as US Lawmakers Protest Over ‘Foreign Overreach’ | APT

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