More than 24 hours after Australia’s youth social media ban officially began, the sky hasn’t fallen in yet. At worst, several national landmarks lit up in green and gold, as if the ban was something to be celebrated. It’s not, for more reasons than the obvious loss of online connection and community for many young Australians.
This ill-advised ban worries me on more fronts than I can reasonably fit into a single article. I worry about kids in rural areas, LGBTQIA+ youth, and any young person from a marginalised community who relies on social media to find their people. I’m especially worried about the commercial interests behind the ban, and how the legislation came together.
Those are just tip-of-the-iceberg factors surrounding a topic that has divided the nation. What concerns me the most at this moment in time is the potential for the ban to create a less-informed generation.
Social media is many things: a way to keep up with friends, a place to be entertained, and a platform to find communities across geographical divides. For an increasing number of young people, social media is where they source their news.
If you think hundreds of thousands of young Australians are about to pick up broadsheets to fill the void, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
Where young people get their news
According to the Digital News Report: Australia 2025, published by the University of Canberra earlier this year, social media overtook websites as one of the nation’s main sources of news. Second only to TV, 26 per cent of Australians rely on social media as the main way they consume news.
Unsurprisingly, a greater proportion of that comes from younger people. 47 per cent of Australians aged between 18-24 consider social media their main source, while 62 per cent of the demographic use socials as part of a wider media mix. Although 18 is the youngest age included in the report, it’s reasonable to extrapolate similar data for younger teens.
The report claims that Instagram and TikTok are the most popular news platforms for young Australians. Both platforms are considered “age-restricted platforms” and are therefore now banned to users under the age of 16.
That’s a sizable chunk of information no longer readily accessible to Australian teens. Among all the brain rot on social media, there’s a lot of genuinely great news content available.
The Daily Aus has more than 600,000 followers on Instagram by serving young Australians with easily digestible news hits. The ABC is doubling down on social-first news with ABC News Loop, and every major masthead in Australia has a division dedicated to meeting audiences where they are.
Taking news away from young Australians
Social media also lets young people produce content for other young people. 6 News Australia would never have got off the ground had the ban been in place in 2019; its founder, Leo Puglisi, was 11 when he founded the news outlet. Some experts, along with Puglisi, share fears that the ban could lead to less politically informed students, which could have ripple effects in future elections.
To dismiss social media as a lesser form of news is fallacious. From a news perspective, it’s simply another medium via which to understand the world. Arguments in favour of the social media ban that cite cyberbullying ring hollow when messaging apps like Discord, WhatsApp, and Messenger remain freely available.
Children and teenagers are far smarter than they’re often given credit. They’ll find ways around the social media ban or flock to other — potentially unregulated — platforms that cater to them.
So, instead of an outright ban, kids and parents should be equipped with the know-how and tools to stay safe online, no matter the platform.
To co-opt a certain campaign: let them be kids in the digital environment that they know and feel comfortable using.
