Unfair and impractical: Online safety bill to cause more harm than it prevents
After applying his data and privacy lens to the Online Safety Amendment Bill, Richard Taylor, managing director at Digital Balance, concludes it is unfair, impractical and yet another example of a well-intentioned policy that solves one problem while creating a myriad of others.
The Australian Government’s Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 is a landmark piece of legislation aiming to protect children and teenagers from the harms of social media.
However, its broad measures, lack of clarity on implementation and the disparity in how children are treated compared to other government policies make it unfair and impractical.
For starters, the Bill treats anyone under the age of 16 as equally vulnerable, grouping 15-year-olds with 5-year-olds. A teenager on the cusp of adulthood engages with social media differently from a young child, yet both are subject to identical restrictions.
