Australia will tomorrow become the first democratic country in the world to ban children from using social media. However, it seems unlikely to be the last, as many other legislators around the world have expressed concern about the mental health harms that may be done to teenagers by social media.
Reddit is seeking to get ahead of the game by implementing new teen safety features globally instead of only within Australia …
The harmful impact of teen social media usage
There has been growing concern in recent years about the harmful impact of social media platforms like Instagram, spanning areas as diverse as body image issues, online bullying, and sexual predators.
Even the companies themselves have been aware of these problems, as demonstrated by a Meta internal report more than five years ago.
“Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse,” the researchers said in a March 2020 slide presentation posted to Facebook’s internal message board […] “Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression,” said another slide. “This reaction was unprompted and consistent across all groups.”
While Meta claimed at the time the findings had been taken out of context, many parents and politicians have described their own concerns about the negative effects of teen exposure to social media.
A growing number of US cities and states have either planned or enacted legislation intended to protect children from these effects, with investigations opened in other countries around the world.
A 9to5Mac reader poll last year revealed strong support for the action taken by Australia in banning social media use by under-16s. More than two-thirds of you said that the US should “absolutely” do the same, with a further 17% feeling this was “probably” the right course of action.
Reddit implementing global protections
While every social network will have to take action to ensure compliance with the new law in Australia, Reddit is going further with the announcement of global protections.
Redditors in Australia will see new experiences and policies designed to confirm their age responsibly and securely. We care deeply about the safety of our users, including any minors, and while some of these changes are required by law, others represent global measures we’re voluntarily taking to improve safety and privacy for those under 18 […]
Teen account holders under 18 everywhere will get a version of Reddit with more protective safety features built in, including stricter chat settings, no ads personalization or sensitive ads, and no access to NSFW or mature content.
While the platform is doing this somewhat grudgingly, stating that it doesn’t support the full scope of Australia’s new law, it does make sense to skate to where the puck is headed, and I would hope other social media apps follow this example.
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