Australia’s plan to ban children from social media proves popular and problematic

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Updated 20 November 2024
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Australia’s plan to ban children from social media proves popular and problematic

  • Supporters say social media is doing too much harm to not have an age limit. More about how the ban would work may be known next week when the legislation is introduced in Parliament

MELBOURNE: How do you remove children from the harms of social media? Politically the answer appears simple in Australia, but practically the solution could be far more difficult.
The Australian government’s plan to ban children from social media platforms including X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram until their 16th birthdays is politically popular. The opposition party says it would have done the same after winning elections due within months if the government hadn’t moved first.
The leaders of all eight Australian states and mainland territories have unanimously backed the plan, although Tasmania, the smallest state, would have preferred the threshold was set at 14.
But a vocal assortment of experts in the fields of technology and child welfare have responded with alarm. More than 140 such experts signed an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemning the 16-year age limit as “too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.”
Details of what is proposed and how it will be implemented are scant. More will be known when legislation is introduced into the Parliament next week.
The concerned teen
Leo Puglisi, a 17-year-old Melbourne student who founded online streaming service 6 News Australia at the age of 11, laments that lawmakers imposing the ban lack the perspective on social media that young people have gained by growing up in the digital age.
“With respect to the government and prime minister, they didn’t grow up in the social media age, they’re not growing up in the social media age, and what a lot of people are failing to understand here is that, like it or not, social media is a part of people’s daily lives,” Leo said.
“It’s part of their communities, it’s part of work, it’s part of entertainment, it’s where they watch content – young people aren’t listening to the radio or reading newspapers or watching free-to-air TV – and so it can’t be ignored. The reality is this ban, if implemented, is just kicking the can down the road for when a young person goes on social media,” Leo added.
Leo has been applauded for his work online. He was a finalist in his home state Victoria’s nomination for the Young Australian of the Year award, which will be announced in January. His nomination bid credits his platform with “fostering a new generation of informed, critical thinkers.”
The grieving mom-turned-activist
One of the proposal’s supporters, cyber safety campaigner Sonya Ryan, knows from personal tragedy how dangerous social media can be for children.
Her 15-year-old daughter Carly Ryan was murdered in 2007 in South Australia state by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager online. In a grim milestone of the digital age, Carly was the first person in Australia to be killed by an online predator.
“Kids are being exposed to harmful pornography, they’re being fed misinformation, there are body image issues, there’s sextortion, online predators, bullying. There are so many different harms for them to try and manage and kids just don’t have the skills or the life experience to be able to manage those well,” Sonya Ryan said.
“The result of that is we’re losing our kids. Not only what happened to Carly, predatory behavior, but also we’re seeing an alarming rise in suicide of young people,” she added.
Sonya Ryan is part of a group advising the government on a national strategy to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse in Australia.
She wholeheartedly supports Australia setting the social media age limit at 16.
“We’re not going to get this perfect,” she said. “We have to make sure that there are mechanisms in place to deal with what we already have which is an anxious generation and an addicted generation of children to social media.”
A major concern for social media users of all ages is the legislation’s potential privacy implications.
Age estimation technology has proved inaccurate, so digital identification appears to be the most likely option for assuring a user is at least 16.
The skeptical Internet expert
Tama Leaver, professor of Internet studies at Curtin University, fears that the government will make the platforms hold the users’ identification data.
The government has already said the onus will be on the platforms, rather than on children or their parents, to ensure everyone meets the age limit.
“The worst possible outcome seems to be the one that the government may be inadvertently pushing toward, which would be that the social media platforms themselves would end up being the identity arbiter,” Leaver said.
“They would be the holder of identity documents which would be absolutely terrible because they have a fairly poor track record so far of holding on to personal data well,” he added.
The platforms will have a year once the legislation has become law to work out how the ban can be implemented.
Ryan, who divides her time between Adelaide in South Australia and Fort Worth, Texas, said privacy concerns should not stand in the way of removing children from social media.
“What is the cost if we don’t? If we don’t put the safety of our children ahead of profit and privacy?” she asked.


Trump says ordering ‘100 percent tariff’ on all movies produced abroad

Updated 6 sec ago
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Trump says ordering ‘100 percent tariff’ on all movies produced abroad

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Sunday he was ordering new tariffs on all films made outside the United States, claiming Hollywood was being “devastated” by a trend of US filmmakers and studios working abroad.
“I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100 percent Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

 


Far right tops Romania’s presidential rerun, to face pro-EU candidate in run-off

Updated 11 min 22 sec ago
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Far right tops Romania’s presidential rerun, to face pro-EU candidate in run-off

  • Nationalist AUR party leader Simion — a fan of US President Donald Trump — was leading with 40.5 percent of the vote
  • He will face off against pro-EU Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan in the May 18 run-off, who surged to second place at 20.9 percent

BUCHAREST: Romania’s far-right candidate George Simion took a comfortable lead in Sunday’s first round of presidential elections, near-final results for the rerun of last year’s annulled ballot showed.
The closely watched rerun could potentially herald a foreign policy shift in the EU country of 19 million, which has become a key pillar of NATO since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
With 99 percent of ballots counted, nationalist AUR party leader Simion — a fan of US President Donald Trump — was leading with 40.5 percent of the vote.
He will face off against pro-EU Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan in the May 18 run-off, who surged to second place at 20.9 percent, narrowly booting out governing coalition candidate Crin Antonescu at 20.3.
“Together we made history today,” said Simion in a video message broadcast at his party’s headquarters as euphoric supporters chanted “Out with the thieves, let patriots come.”
Political science professor Sergiu Miscoiu told AFP that Simion now faced the uphill task of converting his lead into a win in the run-off, predicting that it would be a close race.
Other experts however have pointed to divisions within the pro-EU camp after a campaign marked by virulent accusations and dirty tricks.

In all, 11 presidential hopefuls were vying for the post which, while largely ceremonial carries some influence in foreign policy.
The rerun follows the cancelation of last year’s vote won by NATO critic Calin Georgescu.
He was barred from the rerun vote after authorities noted a massive TikTok campaign and issued claims of Russian interference, sparking sometimes violent protests.
Georgescu was replaced by 38-year-old Simion, who often dons a cap with the US president’s slogan “Make America Great Again.” He said he hoped to become Romania’s “MAGA president.”
“It’s time to take our country back,” said the barred Georgescu after casting his ballot alongside Simion in Mogosoaia, on the outskirts of Bucharest.
“We are here with a single mission: to return to democracy — and bring justice to Romania,” said Simion, who campaigned on a promise to put Romania first.
Many voters clearly wanted change on Sunday. Robert Teodoroiu told AFP he hoped that this time his ballot would count after last year’s vote was annulled.
“I’m trying my luck again,” said the 37-year-old driver in Bucharest.
Voter turnout stood at about 53 percent when polls closed.
Simion has largely campaigned online, partly in a bid to woo Romania’s influential overseas voters. While describing himself as “more moderate” than Georgescu, he shares his aversion to what he calls “Brussels’ unelected bureaucrats.”
Simion accuses EU officials of having meddled in Romania’s elections and has vowed to restore his country’s “dignity” within the bloc.
While frequently denouncing Russia, he opposes sending military aid to Ukraine and wants Romania to reduce support for Ukrainian refugees.
His campaign found favor with 67-year-old Stela Ivan, who hopes a far-right president would bring “change” to Romania after decades dominated by the same political parties since the end of Communism.
Another voter, 52-year-old nurse Silvia Tomescu, said she hoped for a “better life, higher wages and a president” who “will not side with Russia.”

Pro-European coalition candidate Crin Antonescu campaigned on a promise to offer stability, while Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan vowed to fight the “corrupt” and “arrogant” political elite.
Simion promised on Sunday that if he became president, he would get Georgescu into power, citing three ways he might achieve that: “a referendum, early elections or forming a coalition in parliament that would appoint him Prime Minister.”
Following the ballot’s shock annulment — a rare move in the EU — the rerun was held under close scrutiny.
Thousands in Romania have protested in recent months against the annulled vote, denouncing it as a “coup.” US Vice President JD Vance also condemned the decision.
Authorities have stepped up preventive measures as well as cooperation with TikTok, saying they are committed to “fair and transparent” elections.
While the far right alleged “multiple signs of fraud,” the government pointed to various disinformation campaigns it said were “new attempts at manipulation and interference by state actors.”
 


Trump says he will reopen Alcatraz prison

Updated 23 min 24 sec ago
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Trump says he will reopen Alcatraz prison

  • Still in the 29 years it was open, 36 men attempted 14 separate escapes, according to the FBI

NEW YORK: President Donald Trump says he is directing his government to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the notorious former prison on a hard-to-reach California island that has been closed for more than 60 years.
In a post on his Truth Social site Sunday evening, Trump wrote that, “For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
“That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders,” he wrote, adding: “The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.”
The prison — infamously inescapable due to the strong ocean currents and cold Pacific waters that surround it — was known as the “The Rock” and housed some of the nation’s most notorious criminals, including gangster Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.
It has long been part of the cultural imagination and has been the subject of numerous movies, including “The Rock” starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.
Still in the 29 years it was open, 36 men attempted 14 separate escapes, according to the FBI. Nearly all were caught or didn’t survive the attempt.
The fate of three particular inmates — John Anglin, his brother Clarence and Frank Morris — is of some debate and was dramatized in the 1979 film “Escape from Alcatraz” starring Clinton Eastwood.
Alcatraz Island is now a major tourist site that is operate by the National Parks Service and is a designated National Historic Landmark.
The closure of the federal prison in 1963 was attributed to crumbling infrastructure and the high costs of repairing and supplying the island facility, because everything from fuel to food had to be brought by boat.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that the agency “will comply with all Presidential Orders.” The spokesperson did not immediately answer questions from The Associated Press regarding the practicality and feasibility of reopening Alcatraz or the agency’s role in the future of the former prison given the National Park Service’s control of the island.
The island serves as a veritable time machine to a bygone era of corrections. The Bureau of Prisons currently has 16 penitentiaries performing the same high-security functions as Alcatraz, including its maximum security facility in Florence, Colorado, and the US penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, which is home to the federal death chamber.
The order comes as Trump has been clashing with the courts as he tries to send accused gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador, without due process. Trump has also directed the opening of a detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,to hold up to 30,000 of what he has labeled the “worst criminal aliens.”
The Bureau of Prisons has faced myriad crises in recent years and has been subjected to increased scrutiny after Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide at a federal jail in New York City in 2019. An AP investigation uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons. AP reporting has disclosed widespread criminal activity by employees, dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies, including assaults and suicides.
The AP’s investigation also exposed rampant sexual abuse at a federal women’s prison in Dublin, California. Last year, President Joe Biden signed a law strengthening oversight of the agency after AP reporting spotlighted its many flaws.

 


Russia offers to help resolve India-Pakistan differences over Kashmir

Updated 05 May 2025
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Russia offers to help resolve India-Pakistan differences over Kashmir

  • Risie in tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors escalated after a deadly terror attack on a mountain tourist destination in the Pahalgam area of Kashmir valley on April 22

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to his Pakistani counterpart on Sunday and offered Russia’s help in resolving tensions between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, the Foreign Ministry said.
“Particular attention was paid to the significant rise in tension between New Delhi and Islamabad,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to Lavrov’s conversation with Ishaq Dar, who is also Pakistan’s deputy prime minister.
“It was stressed that Russia is ready to act for a political settlement of the situation resulting from the act of terrorism of April 22 in the Pahalgam area of the Kashmir valley, in the event of a mutual desire on the part of Islamabad and New Delhi,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on Telegram.

Lavrov’s conversation with Dar took place two days after he spoke with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and also called for a settlement of differences between the two neighboring countries.
Suspected militants killed at least 26 people in last week’s attack on a mountain tourist destination in the Pahalgam area of the Kashmir valley.
Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed by both countries and has been the focus of several wars, an insurgency and diplomatic standoffs.
Russia has been India’s largest weapons provider for decades and New Delhi and Moscow have had close ties since Soviet times.


Incoming German interior minister skeptical about ban on far-right AfD

Updated 04 May 2025
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Incoming German interior minister skeptical about ban on far-right AfD

  • German lawmakers have been discussing measures to dismiss civil servants who are members of the AfD and limit or halt public funding

BERLIN: Incoming German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt suggested on Sunday it was unlikely the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party would be banned after the spy agency classified it as “extremist” last week.
German lawmakers have been discussing outlawing the party and taking other measures including dismissing civil servants who are members of the AfD and limiting or halting public funding.
But Dobrindt told broadcaster ARD he was doubtful whether the AfD activities identified in the spy agency’s report met the requirements set out for an outright ban.
Guidelines set by the constitutional court say a party must be shown to be working “combatively and aggressively” to implement its goals to be banned.
“I’m skeptical, because the aggressive, combative nature of the party against our democracy must be a defining characteristic. The Constitutional Court was right to set high hurdles for banning a party,” Dobrindt said.
He added that he was “convinced that the AfD does not need to be banned, it needs to be governed away, and we need to talk about the issues that have made the AfD so big.”
Dobrindt, a high-profile member of the CSU, the Bavarian sister party of incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU, said his ministry would examine the designation in depth and he would discuss its findings with the spy agency’s top brass in person.
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the future government would work to shrink the AfD.
“What I don’t believe is that a potential ban procedure, which could take years, is the sole instrument to bring the AfD down,” Klingbeil, Germany’s next vice chancellor, said.
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel accused outgoing Interior Minister Nancy Faeser of using the spy agency as a “secret justice system” to discriminate against the party.
“We are a future governing party; even the machinations of the secret justice system will not be able to prevent that in the long run,” Weidel told the Welt newspaper on Sunday.