Sydney: The federal government has committed to a national plan to ban children from social media.
Details are still scarce. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has acknowledged that “no government is going to be able to protect every child from every threat, but we have to do all we can”.
But banning children from social media isn’t going to fix the problem of online harms faced by young people – it’s only going to put the problem on pause. That’s because when children reach an age when they can use social media, they are still going to face many of the same issues.
The best way to help young people safely navigate social media is by improving their social media literacy.
The federal government has committed to a national plan to ban children from social media.
Details are still scarce. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has acknowledged that “no government is going to be able to protect every child from every threat, but we have to do all we can”.
But banning children from social media isn’t going to fix the problem of online harms faced by young people – it’s only going to put the problem on pause. That’s because when children reach an age when they can use social media, they are still going to face many of the same issues.
The best way to help young people safely navigate social media is by improving their social media literacy.
What is social media literacy?
Social media literacy is about understanding and critically thinking about the content you see on social media – and why it’s there.
It’s about understanding that the images and videos which appear in your social media feed are not there by chance. They are there because of algorithms which use your personal data to better understand your interests and what kind of content you are more likely to engage with.
This is why everyone’s social media feeds are different.
We don’t know exactly how these algorithms work, because social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok keep them secret. However, some researchers are working to change this.
At the moment digital media literacy is sorely lacking around the world – even among younger generations who were born into the internet age and are prolific social media users.
