The War on Social Media Is Really a War on Community
Australia’s online-safety amendment took effect Dec. 10, banning social-media use nationwide by individuals under age 16. Under terms of the law, social-media platforms that fail to take “reasonable steps” to prevent minors from registering and maintaining accounts may face fines up to A$49.5 million.
It now appears that the European Commission, France, Denmark, Greece, Romania, Indonesia, Malaysia, and New Zealand are all considering following Australia’s lead. Ex-Chicago Mayor and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has called for the United States to follow suit, declaring that “[w]hen it comes to our adolescents, it’s either going to be adults or the algorithms that raise our kids,” and that “[p]arents cannot fight Big Tech alone.”
This language is very similar to what Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said in trying to sell the regulation to his own constituents:
We’re doing this for those parents – and for every parent. Because this law is about making it easier for you to have a conversation with your child about the risks and harms of engaging online. It’s also about helping parents push back against peer pressure. You don’t have to worry that by stopping your child using social media, you’re somehow making them the odd one out. Now, instead of trying to set a “family rule”, you can point to a national ban.
Emanuel and Albanese’s declarations bring to mind a great South Park line, delivered in an episode in which the town’s parents demand that an admittedly vulgar TV show be censored: “I think that parents only get so offended by television because they rely on it as a babysitter and the sole educator of their kids.”
As a parent of two little girls—one of whom will soon be a smartphone user—I share concerns about the potential adverse effects of social media. There are many things I would prefer my daughters to avoid or use only under supervision. But I don’t need a national ban to do that.
In this post, I argue that “outsourcing” our sons and daughters’ online safety to the state would be not only ineffective, but harmful to society in an often-ignored way: It would weaken social norms, and communities and families’ ability to regulate the behavior of adolescents and children. Paradoxically, the law would hinder what should be an essential part of the solution: A community-driven approach to equip parents and teens with the tools to navigate the digital world safely.