Podcast: How would age limits for social media work?
Dr Eric Crampton
Dr Michael Johnston
22 November, 2024
In this episode, Eric and Michael discuss Australia's proposed law to ban social media for under-16s, examining how age verification would likely require government ID and create serious privacy risks as platforms would need to store this sensitive data.
While acknowledging concerns about social media's impact on young people, they argue the Australian approach could enable government surveillance, compromise online anonymity, and create technical challenges that would either be easily circumvented or impose heavy costs on legitimate users.
Related links:
- Hon Michelle Rowland’s second reading speech on the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024, which has details on the legislation
- Eric's article in the NZ Herald about the proposed social media ban
- Zoe Rose, at Australia’s The Mandarin, goes through more detail on the technical issues involved (Eric and Michael had not seen this column before having their conversation)
To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App.