05/01/2026
Column today in the AFR..
In the past four weeks, many teenagers who were already active on platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat report littleĀ meaningful change.Ā Some accounts were suspended, but many were not. Others were quickly reactivated through obvious workarounds ā parental accounts, altered age settings, or alternative verification methods.
Law works not only through punishment but through credibility. When legislation is widely flouted without consequence, it risks undermining public confidence not just in that law, but in the seriousness of the legislative process itself.
That does not mean the policy is misguided. In fact, the core principle behind the ban is sound. Children should not be on social media. Decades of developmental psychology, alongside mounting empirical evidence, point to the same conclusion: early exposure to algorithm-driven platforms increases vulnerability to anxiety, impulsivity, social comparison and reduced attention capacity. On this, the government is right.
But there is a crucial distinction between laws that set moral direction and laws that are practically enforceable. The danger lies in pretending they are the same thing.
