Opposition steps up claims Australia’s ‘world-leading’ social media ban is ‘laughably easy’ to bypass

Circumventing Australia’s much-vaunted social media ban for under 16s is child’s play, according to the Opposition.

Shadow Minister for Communications Melissa McIntosh claims the ban has failed in its aim, with many kids finding it “laughably easy” to bypass. She also took aim at the Prime Minister’s initial claims that the ban would allow kids to be kids.

“Did kids get out on their bikes this Christmas holidays, go kick a footy or participate in any activities the Prime Minister suggested — like starting new sports, learning instruments or reading books?” she said on Saturday.

Ms McIntosh didn’t cite specific research to support her claims, but said reports had shown the ban had got off to a bad start.

“Many under-16 accounts have not been deactivated, while others that were initially removed have since become active again,” she said.

“New accounts are being created and the age-verification tools that the Government assured Australians would be effective, have proven laughably easy to bypass with some makeup and good lighting.

“For the kids that did lose access, they have simply migrated to other platforms like Yope and Lemon8 that aren’t included in the ban. This is one of the fundamental flaws of this policy. It targeted access rather than harm.

“The Government assumed removing children from certain platforms would make them safer online, without addressing the reason those spaces are unsafe to begin with. We need to tackle the harmful algorithms and the extreme and toxic content that make them unsafe online in the first place.”

Ms McIntosh also flagged a lack of consideratiton for mental health implications, claiming no increased funding for schools, counsellors or youth mental health services

‘Minority groups and vulnerable young people, who often rely on social media for support, have been treated as an afterthought,” she said. “Cutting access without strengthening mental health support is not protection, it’s negligence.”