https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/instagram-facebook-cut-16s-australia-social-media-ban-rcna244914
This article discusses a new ban coming into effect in Australia after a recent census vote showed support for a social media ban for all users under the age of 16. Meta has alerted its Australian users who stand to be affected to download their data ahead of account deletions that will come shortly in order to comply with the new Australian law. Australian, who is not new to going toe to toe with large MNCs, has imposed the threat of a roughly $90 million fine for systemic failure to abide by this rule. The article notes the potential impacts of this ban on under 16 residents acknowledging that they will likely search for work arounds that would lead them to less regulated parts of the internet.
This article discusses something with pretty little significant impact for the region politically but it reflects a larger international shift towards focusing on access to the internet for youth. Recent studies have shown that excessive social media access for teens can have negative effects on mental health and attention span. Australia is the first country to take direct action but this is not without international support. This has become a strong topic of discussion in the UK with an increase of regulations going into effect there as well. This seems like it is likely to proceed to spread to other areas especially for nations like China that already put an emphasis on content consumption control for their population.
The two main stakeholders are Facebook, the MNC, and the Australian parliament. On Facebook’s part, it would make the most sense to simply go through with the account deletions in order to avoid any large fines or a potential ban entirely for Facebook in Australia. This would be the most beneficial because it would maintain the majority of the users from the country as the under 16 group is not as large as the overall population. Additionally, people over the age of 16 are the ones who are most likely to engage financially with Facebook through ads or online business activity. For Australia, it would make sense to wait to see the initial reactions to the ban once account deletions go through before making any more decisions.
This topic is very relevant to power and security. Obviously the Australian government is trying to work to protect their younger citizens from the potential dangers of the internet. As a result the Australian government is clearly using its power to protect its people. This however could become a question of government overreach with Australia overstepping from security to invasion of privacy.