Deconstructing the discussion
How can multicultural young people be safe online without stripping away their access to digital connection and communication today? Find out why the social media ban is not the solution.
An opinion piece by CMY’s Youth Intern, Isabellia Lee.
This article is a 10 minute read.
A new law introduced by the Australian Federal Government has been trending – but not for the right reasons. I’m talking about The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 or social media ban that was introduced on 28 November 2024. It’s determined to address mental health concerns from all the cyber-bullying, the scary stalking and any harmful content we’re all exposed to online. It will affect young people aged under 16 who want to create an account, and no your parents/older siblings can’t make one for you – sorry. The real question is, well, does restricting access to social media based of our age actually prevent these issues from continuing? Or will this open another wormhole of issues and unintended consequences that young multicultural people will eventually have to bear? Let’s talk about it.
In a nutshell, the social media ban involves the rights of young multicultural people’s digital freedom and accessing certain social media platforms – think mega or meta platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, X (or Twitter RIP), Snapchat and Reddit.
Okay now, stay with me. Young people let’s do a fun lil experiment! When was the last time you opened at least one of these apps? This morning? Were you in the app just now? Yeah, exactly. No, but seriously, social media is a part of young people’s everyday lives in some shape or form. IMO we should be asking, well, how do we move forward with social media, as opposed to strictly removing it from our realities?
Unfortunately, the social media ban attacks the rights of young multicultural people’s digital freedom. As a marginalised group in today’s digital space, their experiences and realities are silenced, hidden, glossed over. Yet, we experience the most media sensationalising when it comes to issues like tough laws on the youth crime committed by people of colour, our low attendance in schools or even this unfounded idea of rising youth gang wars?? Honestly, in most cases social media actually benefits young multicultural people as we can control these types of harmful stories that are told by mainstream media outlets. Alternatively, we also get to show the issues as they impact us, and we don’t need to apologise for just being us. Ultimately, social media allows young people to freely express ourselves on various platforms for a wide range of audiences (community leaders, friends, decision makers etc.). It gives us the protection and the space to be unapologetically us. If we allow this to be stripped from us, what does this teach the future generations about their voices? What spaces would then be available to young multicultural people who are always misrepresented in the media?
Secondly, it strips away our access to community and connection that has been fostered by young people today for literally most of our lives. I want you to imagine leaving behind your friends and family members in your home country and migrating to Australia for a new life, how would you connect with those important people? How would they know how you’re adjusting in school, what’s the culture like here in Aus? Social media has also been that gateway for connection and communication for those young people who have just arrived in Australia and need to hold on to their communities. Unfortunately, the blunt ban on social media would directly impact these channels of connection for newly arrived young people, leaving them isolated. How would they deal with these sudden changes? That just seems unfair for no reason.
I must point out the obvious… A blanket ban on social media does not actually address the initial concerns from the bill, which were mainly focused on digital safety and the effects on mental health. Yes, social media and other online platforms can be a dangerous breeding hub for extremism, racism, doxing and other harmful content to fester. However, I would consider the ban the wrong move as age-verification and privacy is difficult to regulate on such a large scale and the public must have a say in how this should be best implemented. Not to mention it would prevent young people from developing the digital literacy and adopting the tools they need to filter out harmful information. We need the energy to shift towards providing all groups involved with the appropriate education on navigating the digital space. That means that we need to see more support given to parents/caregivers/older siblings in their guidance with young people and their digital presence. Ultimately, it seems as though young people are being punished for the lack of education on digital literacy, paired with an absence of solid systems and structures to best support young people in the digital age. Clearly the conversation is more complex than slapping a social media ban on it and hoping to fix things. So now that I’ve said my bit, I want to pass the mic to you.
However comma! we absolutely need social/human connection to thrive and function, and social media has become that avenue for many young people to experiences these connections. We’ve been through the zoom graduations and the zoom tutorials, all of which have been instrumental in getting us through a worldwide unprecedented pandemic that cut off access physical interactions with one another. It’s the same for social media, it is the most accessible place on this earth for all young people to go and vent to a random audience and not be judged, to spread awareness about a social issue or to share food or clothing inspiration.
The Digital World is our Third Space. Social media has been our little (but also not so little) pocket in the world, where we can doomscroll for hours and learn some fun and unfun facts. I mean let’s face it young multicultural people have been born and raised in the digital age – there’s no denying that! It has since functioned as the ‘third space’ for most of us, without us even realising it (Oldenburg, R 1999). So, what the heck is a third space? Well, essentially it reflects the in-between-ness in how we socialise with one another outside of the expected/formal locations that we usually see in First or Second spaces. For example, a young person today might find that they can meet their friends/peers at a school, at an after-school club, heck even a homework club – this would be the First space. The Second space would include locations such as the library, museum or the church! It is the third space that blends the formal and informal learning environments wherein interests, ideas and outfits?? can be shared! Ergo: The Internet/Online (aka Third Space). We have since built forums, online group sharing platforms, e-communities and channels to present our personal and professional bits of knowledge to the world. The digital world has allowed young people to find our own digital imagined communities such as social media.
References:
Oldenburg, R. (1999). The great good place: Cafes, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, hair salons and other hangouts at the heart of a community (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Marlowe & Company.
Pass the Mic 🎤
- What do you think?
- What does this mean for us?
- Where do we go from here and how do we navigate our online relationships/communities that we have worked so hard to build and maintain?
- What does it mean for connection, shared-online communities, the future of communication?
- Does media literacy and the social media ban need to have a more informed and decolonised approach to include marginalised communities’ representation in the media?
Fill our inbox (themix@cmy.net.au) with your comments – the good, the bad and anything in between.