18-Year-Old Australian Media Entrepreneur Reveals Real Effects Of Nation’s Under-16 Social Media Ban

APT

Australian teen journalist and business owner Leonardo Puglisi, founder of a streaming news channel, says Australia’s new ban on social media use for those under 16 has had little effect on his follower count so far.  The new law requires major platforms—including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube—to remove underage users or face heavy fines. Puglisi supports the intention behind the policy but says platforms should be made safer rather than simply banning teens.  The move comes as global governments watch Australia closely, while experts link rising teen social media use to increasing mental-health challenges.  #AustraliaNews #SocialMediaBan #TeenCreator   Australia teen social media ban, Leonardo Puglisi interview, Australian teen news founder, teen business owner reacts, under 16 social media restriction Australia, TikTok ban Australia teens, Instagram minors ban Australia, YouTube teen users Australia, digital safety laws Australia, global social media regulations, teen mental health data, teen suicide rise social media, youth depression statistics, safer social media platforms, Australian tech regulation, world first social media ban, media entrepreneur teenager

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00:00Yeah, so our followers on social media have been pretty steady, pretty steadily rising

00:26across all age groups, which I'm happy with. And we haven't really noticed much of a decline.

00:31I know there's been some other accounts that I've seen that have reported that they had

00:35a sudden drop off of 1,000, 1,300, 1,500, whatever overnight. But I think the fact that there

00:42isn't major drop offs elsewhere probably does reflect the fact that many young people

00:47who are supposedly going to be caught up in this ban are able to get around it, which

00:51has been one of the big problems with it.

00:56Yeah, so my younger brother is in the age group affected by this ban. First thing he

01:18told me on Wednesday morning was he's still on it. And he didn't attempt to bypass it either.

01:23He was just absolutely just, he was just still able to go on it. There was no check. And

01:29he reported to me that it was the same with a lot of his mates. And as of right now, he

01:34is still able to go on it. We've seen that across social media as well. The Prime Minister

01:39wrote his video where he was talking about why this is being implemented. And all the

01:44replies are saying, you know, we're still here. And there's these 15 year olds and these 14

01:47year olds all commenting. So that doesn't surprise me entirely. I guess it has been kind of suspected.

01:54And, you know, we'll wait and see. But I'm sure I will. I will hear about it from my little

01:58brother if he does eventually get kicked off.

02:00Yeah, well, I mean, on face value, I support that messaging, touch grass, you know, go out,

02:15play sports, watch sports, hang out with your friends in real life. I support all that. I do

02:20all that. I don't get why it needs to be a one or the other situation. You know, again,

02:26we're talking about 15 year olds who have part time jobs, who are expected to happen a lot more

02:31truly. We're not saying five year olds here. I don't want a five year old having an Instagram

02:35account or whatever. And so, like, again, all of those messaging, it's fine on face value. And it

02:41is, again, something that I support and should be done. Absolutely. But I don't think it should

02:46be a one or the other situation, especially when we know social media is such a huge part of

02:49not just the entertainment value, but the work value, the socialising. It's a part of daily

02:54lives. We kind of have to accept that. And it should be making sure that these platforms are

02:59safer for young people instead of just saying, well, they're not on it anymore. They won't be

03:03able to see any of this harmful content because we know that's just not true.

03:05We're lucky in terms of our team is that the debate has gone on long enough that anyone in

03:25our team who was under 16 is now 16 or older, which is helpful. But again, notwithstanding the fact that

03:32many of the teams in this age group will still be on there and we'll still be following it,

03:36you know, we'll be doing what we know and we'll be covering this and we'll be really

03:39focusing on it because it's so critical to make sure we don't kind of, and obviously it's going

03:44to be in the headlines now and for the next week, maybe, and it has been overseas, but it isn't,

03:48you know, completely forgotten over the December, January news cycle when,

03:52for we know, there could be major issues with it. And obviously, you know, I don't want to see any

03:56hacks, but, you know, there's risks with privacy. Obviously, the implementation of it

04:01continues to be developed and we want to stay on that. So that's what we'll be continuing to cover,

04:06but we'll really, in terms of our style and, you know, everything else, we'll be sticking with what

04:10we know.

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