All about Australia's Social Media Ban for Children

In this episode of Takaro Kids, Kiran and Debkanya dive into Australia's new ban on social media for children under 16! We talk about why the government made this rule and how it affects popular apps like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. You'll learn why social media can sometimes be a problem and what you can do to stay safe online. 

We also cover some fun tech facts and even talk about a rare antelope that's been brought back from extinction! Don't forget to send in your answers for our Takaro quiz question of the week and win cool prizes!

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:20 Australia's Social Media Ban for Kids

00:56 The Impact of Social Media on Society

02:24 Challenges in Enforcing the Ban

02:55 The Hype Cycle of Technology

04:40 Social Media's Negative Effects 

09:27 Global Perspectives on Social Media Bans

12:17 Parental Guidance and Conversations

14:38 Takaro Quiz and Fun Facts

16:36 Quiz Question and Conclusion

Follow us on Instagram 

Transcript

0:00

Mics, camera. Action. Welcome to Takaro Kids. Today it's gonna be ironic because, we are most likely being heard. On a social platform or you know, maybe a music listening platform, which is also social inherently. Mm. And today we are gonna be talking about a social media ban. That's right. We are talking about the social media ban that Australia has announced banning all children under the age of 16 from being on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and the likes. So there's a list. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So if you're listening on Spotify, you should be fine. Or any other audio platform, you should be fine. But if you're watching this on Instagram you will not be allowed if you're in Australia. So. Yeah, last few years there's been, I mean, at least maybe the last 10, 15 years, there's been so much about social media and, uh, you know, its effects not just on children mm-hmm. But on everyone. Yeah. Is there addiction, is there, ways in which it's not safe, even for adults? Um, does it kind of bring you to a lazy sort of life rather than an active life. Mm-hmm. So many conversations around social media and uh, this one I think is specific to Australia where the government has basically banned social media apps from actually, and this is the interesting part, it's not a ban on the people mm-hmm. But it's a ban on the platforms. So for example, a Facebook and a meta have to make sure that children under the age of 16 are blocked. Yes. So they have to make sure it's not up to the individual, it's not up to the kid. Exactly. That is an important, thing to talk about here, right? Yeah. Because it's not like if a child is on social media, on Facebook, Threads, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, Reddi, Twitch, YouTube, Instagram. It's not illegal for the child, so you will not get into trouble. Okay. And first of all, this ban is going to go into effect on the 10th of December. Mm-hmm. Right? But if you're found on it, you or your parents will not get into trouble because the responsibility is the people at Facebook, Threads, et cetera, they are supposed to make sure that you are not on platforms. Yeah, right. That we just mentioned. Now that brings up the question, how are they going to know? How are they going to know how old you are, right? Yep. For that they need to ask for lots of private information, which is again, the other debate people are having. Like you said, it could be me as a 10-year-old posing as an 18-year-old mm-hmm. On online. And so how does a social media company know that I'm actually a 10-year-old? That kind of becomes a problem. And then when they start asking for more data from a child, then where does that data kind of sit? And so it's it's very interesting actually. If you see the whole technology world goes through cycles, right? So, you know, in the technology world. There is a company called Gartner. Mm-hmm. Which, does a lot of research, mainly for companies and things like that. And they have termed a thing called hype cycle mm-hmm. For technologies. So the hype cycle is very interesting. It says that initially when there's new technology. Think about the mobile phone, think about social media. Everyone gets super excited about it and about how it can be used. In fact, in the 2010s, there was a lot of conversation around how social media should be used, even in schools to help children understand social behavior, to understand, how it is to behave and interact online. So you kind of guide them, train them, do all of those things. And that was when. The hype cycle was in the beginning phase for, for social media. Similarly, in the 2000s, there was a lot of conversation around, Hey, do mobile phones become important in schools? Right? So from an education perspective, and now we've all said, Hey, no mobile phones, it'll only be for specific, activities because that hype cycle is dead and it's kind of become more stable, right? And so now social media is also hitting that. But if you think about it. AI is right now in the hype cycle. Mm-hmm. Every single student and every single classroom is thinking about how AI can be used for education, for kids, how it's an amazing tool for them to use. So it's very interesting that these technology, um, innovations start going through these cycles. Yeah. But Kiran, see, the hype cycles are very interesting. Of course, like you said, people get excited about things, but that's also connected to the fact that people don't really know what the impact is going to be. Correct. And that is why today we are talking about social media not being great for kids, because they have, they have seen that there's been a lot of adverse or negative reactions that children have had. Right. Yeah. Social media platforms often have been used for bullying, for example. Yeah. Bullying is, you know. It's when other people are being really, really mean to you and they can be mean to you in school. And now because of social media, they can be mean to you at home as well, right? Yeah. Because you are carrying that with you everywhere, and being mean to you online. That is one thing that really affects, you know, how people feel. You're also exposed to a lot of information that is not good for you. right? Because it's very difficult to control the kind of, content you are consuming. So there are many, many reasons that, studies have found that it's affecting mental health, which is why they're saying, okay, fine. You know what, let's step back. It's exciting. Sure. Let's step back. So I wonder. With AI as well. There's already chatter about that. While AI is great, because it answers a lot of questions very quickly, very simply, but is it really all that it's made out to be? What are the negative repercussions? Yeah, and you know, it's interesting, so. You know UNESCO, right? UNESCO is a, um, arm of the United Nations. It's a United Nations Education, science, uh,, cultural organization. Not bad. So, UNESCO is, the part of UN which kind of focuses on how does education get, more democratized, culture- how do you save it? All of that, right? What is interesting is in 2011, UNESCO created this entire brief, or this document talking about how amazing social media is gonna be for learning my God. And they said, Hey, you know, social media can help schools allow the real world into their classrooms, and hence, prepare students for a real future, for a real better future. Right. And now, you know, 14 years later there's a ban on social media by an entire country. And, and similarly, if you think about it like I was talking about, uh, mobile phones in the early 2000 tens, again, the World Economic Forum, which is the largest gathering of, countries, companies, all of them coming together to talk about how society is gonna develop and economic and, you know, money and those kind of things, but. In 2010, the World Economic Forum promoted mobile phones as a new educational tool that gives students a personalized learning anytime, anywhere. Mm-hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. And now we all know, hey, mobile phones, no way. We are not gonna allow it in schools. Right. Maybe iPads, maybe laptops for specific kind of classes. So it's very interesting, which is what I'm saying, you know, all of these companies. Come in, or all of these organizations come in and start talking about it as this exciting new leap, but then you start kind of rolling back. Similarly Google now with, from an AI perspective, I was watching a video yesterday where, they are now promoting their AI model mm-hmm. For classes. Right. And why, because they're saying, Hey, let's say we are talking about, the World War II. From a history perspective. Now, Debbie, you may be someone who loves to read and so AI can convert it into a beautiful book for you. Mm-hmm. To understand the World War II better. Basically a customized lesson for each person. And I love music, so it can maybe create a song and that's how I learn. Yes. Right. Now that's what every single company, every single school is kind of trying to think about from an AI perspective. Yeah. And so let's see where that goes. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's It's a super interesting way to use AI in a classroom where, you know. If you're interested in cars, you use cars as an analogy. Yeah. Animals. You use animals as an analogy to explain the chapter. Right. It's great, but then to what extent, I think that's what it is, but the other thing to consider here is what is the reaction to this? Yeah. Because I think a lot of kids have been on social media for a while in Australia. It's not gonna be easy for them to suddenly, overnight just get off those platforms. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Because they also use it for. You know, to share their own content. Correct. For example, I know my daughter wants to create animated videos and she's like, where do I share it? I want to share it with the world. Yeah. So she thinks social media is a great way to do that. A lot of people keep in touch with their friends. I mean, WhatsApp. Community, for example, right? That is an, that is the definition of social media. Yeah. Yeah. So how they're going to actually implement this ban is interesting. A lot of people are going to push back, especially teenagers are going to push back. A lot of parents are very happy with it because they do realize that, you know, there's scientific evidence to show that it's bad. The other thing to note is a lot of other countries are also playing around with this idea, so it's not, Australia has of course been the first, there's been a lot of talk about it, and they're the first to actually go out and do this ban. Uh, Belgium is talking about it. There are other countries in the European Union that's been talking about it. China already has a lot of restrictions on what platforms kids can be on, to what extent, uh, the kind of content that they can receive. Malaysia has talked about a full ban as well. Indonesia, New Zealand, Spain, Singapore, there's a lot of talk But it's bound to happen, right? Yeah. If you think about, uh, mobile phones, apparently as of last year, 2024, 79 countries had banned or restricted students using phones at schools. Mm-hmm. Now that's a whole country that has just banned. Its 79 of them, and plus there are more being added. So, like you just said. All of them are now considering social media bans. That's probably gonna be the next one. Mm. The third one is gonna be ai maybe in like five, seven years time. Yeah. In fact, apparently when, um, uh, one of the people who was pushing for this ban in Australia, The premier of South Australia who basically helped drive this entire ban when, uh, you know, the press, the reporters asked him, Hey, you know, now you've created this ban for social media. Uh, what about ai? Mm-hmm. And can we learn and can we do something preemptively? And his response was, "I think the lesson from the evolution of social media on mobile phones is that something can happen over time and you don't realize it's bad until it's too late." Yeah. Yeah. So you have to let it just kind of go, and then when it gets too bad, you start pulling back, which is also kind of weird, right? It's like, I mean, yeah, because how do you know? Yeah. Where are the boundaries? Like how do you know? Yeah. Whether it's working, not working. Correct. What I'm also wondering is, okay, one is it's gonna be hard for a lot of kids to get off social media. Mm-hmm. Even though they're banned, so they'll automatically their accounts, if, you know, your age is already there. Yeah. The information is there. You're gonna be off the platform. What will kids then do? Will they. Um, find other platforms that are not banned, will they find unsafe places to talk to each other? Because a lot of people are worried about that because ultimately, when you're used to something, you will find alternatives, right? And so the question, or rather the, the important thing to remember here is be careful. Always be careful what kind of app you're downloading. What kind of platform you're going on to talk to your friends. It might be perfectly safe, that's fine. But always, always be mindful and check with an adult that you trust before you do something like that. Right Before you check some new platform or app out. And, and you know, the other thing I want to talk about, because um, last week there was a similar conversation in my kids' school as well, right? About how do you restrict usage on iPads. Mm. And so there was a conversation about, hey, what are the software tools available? There are many apps which can completely restrict, you know, access to different, um, social media apps, so like these parenting control apps. Mm-hmm. But, but I think it is still very important for the parent and the child to have a conversation. Yes. Because, um, whatever these apps are, there will be five different ways that you can get around it. Maybe you in your family and in your home have that restriction, but there's another home which does not. So there's always gonna be different ways of access. And as a child, I think it's important for you to trust your parents and speak to them about things that you're not sure of. If you have just heard about a brand new game, which, you know, sounds exciting. And it may be really exciting, have a chat with your parents and say, Hey, I wanna play this. This is what it does. It does. Why don't you take a look at it? And then the parent also has the equal responsibility to then talk to you, very responsibly about it, right? Yeah. Instead of saying, Hey, you can't, or you can. Have a conversation about it. So I think it's that two-way conversation that's really important between the parent and child as well. Absolutely. And we have to remember one thing, I mean, I keep, it's something that I keep thinking about. Social media is not always bad. It's got great content out there. But social media is built to be addictive, so kids and adults both tend to be on social media a lot more than they ever have been before. Yeah. So it's a conversation that you need, like Kiran said, between your parents and you can also tell your parents that, Hey, you need to spend less time on social media. And that's perfectly valid. Right? It shouldn't just be one way. It can be the other way as well. So there you have it. Message us and send us your thoughts about what you think from a social media ban perspective. What do you think you would have done if you were in Australia and this ban applied to you? I don't know. I mean, it would be interesting to get your thoughts on that. Yeah. Voice message. Send us a text message and we'll read it out next week. And that brings us to my favorite part of the show, which is our Takaro quiz question of the week. We wanted to talk about this other super, super interesting story. We wanna go into it a little more in detail, but I mean, we've run out of time. Mm-hmm. But we can't leave without talking about this very special antelope from the Sahara Desert, which has been brought back from extinction. I love it when this happens. It's amazing, right? I just love it when this happens. Yes. Yeah. It's, it's pretty cool. Um, you know, extinction happens because of multiple reasons. And this particular animal has been brought back from extinction, which basically meant there was zero of them. Mm-hmm. And now there's more than one. Yes. So what are the options for this extinct antelope that has been brought back? The options are, one, the Scimitar Horned Oryx, option two, the Blackbuck, option three, the Impala. And option four, the Sable Antelope. Okay. Ooh, these are your four options. One of them had gone extinct and now it's been brought back, so you will be hopefully able to see it someday. Right. Tell us your answers. So send it in on, takarokids.com, or don't go to social media, but ask your parents to send it on social media on Instagram as a message. Whatever your answer is, it does not matter if you're the first one. You are the last one, you are sending an answer for the hundredth time. You stand a chance to win a gift voucher and a Takaro Kids t-shirt. Exactly. It's a very cool t-shirt. It's in fact, we had a few kids who have already won that T-shirt and they've been sending us pictures, which we love. So if you win the t-shirt, do remember to model it for us and show it to us. But yes, all you have to do, go to www.takarokids.com or get a parent to help you. And in fact, last week we asked you what is India's only active volcano called? Now India has multiple volcanoes as we discussed. I almost forgot this by the way. Yeah, we, we discussed there were about seven or eight volcanoes in India, but there's only one which is active. The answer is the Barren island volcano in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. And we have one lucky 10-year-old who is the winner this week. It is Anaya Faruki, 10-year-old. Amazing. Congratulations, Anaya, and your gift certificate and your shirt is gonna be on its way to you soon. Congratulations Anaya. Thank you so much for listening. We love it when you send in your answers. So yes, do participate in this week's quiz question as well. That's it from us on this episode of Takaro Kids. It's time to say -bye bye!