Statewide Forum on The Social Media Ban and Multicultural Youth: “Social Media is a lifeline.”
On Wednesday 19 November, CMY hosted a Statewide Forum on The Social Media Ban and Multicultural Youth. Happening exactly four weeks before the Social Media Ban begins for people under the age of 16, the Forum brought together youth-facing organisations and services, government representatives including the eSafety Commission and the Victorian Office for Youth, as well as youth advocates and others working with young people to learn, share and strategise for collective action to address gaps and challenges the Ban may bring.
CMY CEO Carmel Guerra OAM opened the Forum with a reflection on CMY’s journey in research and advocacy in the lead up to the Ban. She touched on the reality that multicultural young people use social media to learn, connect and integrate themselves into society.
“For multicultural and newly-arrived young people, social media is not a luxury, it’s a lifeline.”
In many conversations about the Ban, the voices of young people are concerningly absent. The Forum gave attendees an opportunity to hear the voices of young multicultural people and explore how the sector can work to ensure young people and their families remain connected, informed and supported once the ban comes into effect. Findings from the report, Blocked: The Social Media Ban, Multicultural Young People and Settlement, were presented by CMY Policy Officer Harini Kasthuriarachchi who shared key insights and concerns from multicultural and newly arrived young people and families ahead of the Ban.
“Social media is integral to settlement,” Harini said.
Participants spoke about the concerns for young peoples’ mental health and wellbeing that informed the introduction of the age restrictions – with recognition that social media exposes young people to more bullying, stress, anxiety, discrimination and other negativity than ever before. Despite this, social media was still seen as an essential tool for marginalised communities, who would otherwise not be able to connect with their communities.
A panel discussion inspired thought with a range of voices and perspectives represented, including multicultural young people, First Nations young people and experts in youth engagement.
One panellist, Bonnie Dukakis, CEO of Koorie Youth Council, shared that research reveals that First Nations communities use social media more than any other community in Australia.
“I’ve got family members that don’t have a phone number. Their only means of contact is Messenger, Instagram, things like that,” Bonnie said.
“What we hear about some of the harms is also the places of safety. Young people are turning online for safe spaces.”
This connection that social media provides is an important part of young people’s lives. Unfortunately, First Nations young people, LGBTQIA+ young people and young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds under the age of 16 will be adversely affected when the ban starts on 10 December.
A young person from CMY’s Ballarat Youth Advisory Group (YAG) expressed this sentiment in a video interview that was screened at the Forum.
“When the Ban comes into place, I feel like lots of people will lose that connection and that sense of belonging in their culture.”
Dr. Alexandra Lee from Deakin University, and former CMY Explore researcher, highlighted the juxtaposing views of young people and their use of social media. She mentioned that in multicultural communities, young people are expected to be translators, messengers, helpers and the “digital experts.” However, when it comes to social media, young people suddenly aren’t viewed as experts anymore by older generations.
“‘Adults’ need young people’s help with technology a lot of the time, but it’s funny that in discussion of the Social Media Ban it turns to suddenly be framed in such a way that ‘Oh, young people actually don’t know what’s going on and they need ‘adults’ to make the decisions for them.’”
Professor Julian Sefton-Green from Deakin University pointed out that the Ban has a lot of downsides that will spark important conversations about how we work with young people.
“That’s why I like [the Social Media Ban], because it’s going to raise questions that all of us are going to have to deal with,” he said.
“It’s asking questions about what we think is a good childhood. It’s asking us to consider how do we relate to young people and why we don’t treat them as equals in a number of decision-making opportunities.”
Daniel Donahoo, Head of Projects at PROJECT ROCKIT, suggested that those working closely with young people need to remain “responsive” and to ask young people directly where they can be contacted going forward.
“That’s the planning that I think we should be doing: where are those young people under the age of 16 in the work that you do? How are you going to have conversations with them?” Daniel said.
Shannon White, MYAN’s National Policy & Advocacy Lead, reflected on the importance of centring youth voice in policy, especially in legislation that affects them so closely like this Ban.
“Young people aren’t just passive recipients of policy, they are our partners, and they need to be treated as such and be given the space to do that well. They have an extraordinary ability to create new worlds for us, but they need our support to get that into reality.”
Two workshops were then held so that attendees could talk with each other about the Ban and people from different sectors could plan and prepare together.
While there is still some uncertainty around how the Social Media Ban will pan out in 2026, attendees left CMY’s Statewide Forum with ideas and actions they can take back to their workplaces across the sector.
