25-11-2024: The Australian federal government is at the forefront of global efforts to suppress and censor free speech online. The Australian Labor Party (ALP) federal government headed by Prime Minister Anthony “Alba-Nazi” Albanese is pushing forward with a proposed total ban from social media of those aged under 16 years. Unfortunately, the bill enabling this ban has the full support of the Liberal Party of Australia (LPA) “opposition” headed by Peter Dutton. This means the social media ban on young people will sail through parliament unhindered. The ban is opposed, however, by the vast majority of Australians and many free speech advocates internationally. More than 140 Australian and international academics have signed an open letter to the Prime Minister calling for social media bans for children to be discarded, and stating that the social media ban is “too blunt an instrument to address [social media] risks effectively”.[1] Key concerns the signatories have is that: bans affect the right to access and participation, parental consent does not fix unsafe products, implementing a ban would be problematic and it may even create more risks for children as platforms will be disincentivised from offering any child safety features at all if only adults will be accessing them.

Scorn and derision

Wherever there are online comments in various articles relating to the government ban on under 16s, they are almost universally filled with scorn and derision from an exasperated public. Already problems with implementation have arisen, with Communications Minister Michelle Rowland suggesting that Snapchat could be exempt from the ban as it is a “messaging service”.[2] The government is inviting a backlash by placing the onus on the social media platforms themselves to implement the ban on young people. The age limit for social media would take place 12 months after the bill passes through parliament, and during that time platforms such as X, Tik Tok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook would need to work out how to exclude Australian users under 16 years of age.[3] Some school principles have backed the moves to clamp down on social media use amongst young students, but have called for YouTube to be exempt as it is used in the classroom as a teaching tool (!).[4]

Some commentators have pointed out that the social media ban for under 16s is in fact a national social media age verification scheme.[5] Restricting teenagers from social media means that the age of every social media user in Australia will need to be verified in some form. This could mean that Australian citizens will have to provide or upload identification simply in order to use social media which they may have previously used every day. It may well be used in conjunction with the Digital ID which is in the process of being implemented, which is supposedly “voluntary”. It could spell the end of the practice for millions of social media users who use an alias or tagline to protect their identity online. The chilling effect of this is not only on free speech, but the right to take part in societal and political discourse on vital issues locally, nationally and internationally.

What is causing “harm” ?

No politician endorsing a social media ban for those under 16 has provided a shred of evidence to support a claim that social media is causing mental health problems for young people. In some circumstances, there have been instances of bullying via social media from others in school and so on. Yet social media for children (and adults) also provides some level of a social network, and some avenues for keeping in touch with friends and relatives. In many cases, the main way for young people to follow the latest updates for their favourite sports team, or a cultural or community club is on social media. Social media used for these purposes is obviously a benefit, and far outweighs the relatively few incidences of bad outcomes for which a social media platform is only the carriage service. Blocking and banning young people potentially from easy avenues to stay in touch with their friends, families and extra-curricular activities will most likely create extra mental health issues.

The main driver which is “causing harm” is the devastating cost of living crisis afflicting Australia and other Western nations. The major parties passing bans on social media through parliament have shown very little concern for the skyrocketing cost of housing, rent, food and basic necessities, or have only paid lip service. Nor has the government shown the slightest interest in addressing the severe mental health crisis across all of society, continually defunding mental health services. In many rural and regional areas of the country, it is extremely difficult to see a specialised psychologist, and even those in the larger cities face long wait times. Climate related disasters fuelled by runaway greenhouse gas emissions are becoming a frequent occurrence, with politicians bickering over pledges to address this by 2050! There is the constant threat of nuclear war, with the Australian ruling class solidly welded to the US and European war machine. Again and again they threaten Russia, China and Iran with all out war, and/or, the preparation of regime change “colour revolutions” on their doorsteps.

Young and older people all have opinions about this horrid state of affairs and have the right to express them. More than this, they are all entitled to take political action to address their key concerns. Yet not only can capitalism today not allow basic democratic rights it once championed, it cannot afford to allow a genuine practice of free speech. Politicians defending the capitalist system today cannot stand being criticised anonymously online, and so they are taking measures to intimidate people from doing this. If everyone who posts a political critique online can be identified easily, many will be reluctant to put themselves forward. Banning young people while putting in place measures to identify those speaking out is a clear method of clamping down on those suggesting systemic alternatives. And all this occurs while Western politicians rail against Russia, China and Iran for “authoritarianism”!!

Once again, a fightback against censorship is stymied by a craven sold-out “left”, which merged with the capitalist and imperialist states during the fraudulent “Covid pandemic”. This imperial left assists elite power enforcing censorship and policing “misinformation” because their positions are also ultimately those of the government itself – whether on “health” or catastrophic wars. We need a genuine left, a workers’ party, which will help lead a fight against ALL aspects of economic and political repression imposed by a ruling class whose days are numbered. NO BANS ON SOCIAL MEDIA!

Workers League

www.redfireonline.com

E: workersleague@protonmail.com

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[1] www.apo.org.au/node/328608 (20-11-2024)

[2] www.thewest.com.au/technology/social-media/snapchat-could-be-exempt-from-social-media-age-limit-c-16749930 (20-11-2024)

[3] www.apnews.com/article/australia-social-media-age-limit-e8259408c0b1456f41967decd474782a (20-11-2024)

[4] www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/principals-back-social-media-ban-but-won-t-give-up-youtube-20241114-p5kqlm (20-11-2024)

[5] www.crikey.com.au/2024/10/14/teen-social-media-ban-national-age-verification/ (20-11-2024)

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