Context: Recent legislation in Australia:
Team A
A future Public Safety Minister is advocating for legal prohibitions on school age children's and adolescent's access to major social media platforms. The Minister argues that this is necessary due to the unique vulnerabilities of developing minds, such as increased susceptibility to addictive technology and possible exposure to content that has not been vetted by parents or teachers. The Minister proposes age thresholds, verifiable age checks, and accountability for platforms that fail to enforce the thresholds.
Team BA coalition of digital inclusion advocates, educators, and citizen's rights advocates who argue that banning access for children and adolescents is overly broad and infringes on autonomy, learning opportunities, and social participation. They maintain that harms are better addressed through targeted interventions: improved moderation, digital literacy, design safeguards, and parental choice. They argue such bans are hard to enforce and risk pushing minors to unregulated platforms.