Good for mental health improvements. Bad for LGBTQ kids. Ugly because they'll work around the age restriction like they already do for alcohol and vapes.
This is probably a means of controlling the narrative going forwards. They are worried about kids finding out how much bullshit the media pushes about the west's enemies, China in particular. With an upcoming war or "trade war" with China, all the propaganda is going to go into overdrive. The kids' reaction to Gaza has been horrifying for the ruling class, they don't want a repeat of that, especially as these kids are going to be military aged by the time things really kick off for a war.
Then again, I might be thinking about this far more long term than the Australian parliament, they do have a nasty habit of making incredibly short sighted decisions.
It's also a backdoor 5 eyes surveillance bill. Means all adults have to use ID to register on social media.
Not true?
Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver’s licenses, nor could they demand digital identification through a government system.
That's good for the end of social media
Let's be honest here: that is an inevitability. We just hate it because it's private companies with little to no transparency responsible for it.
Honestly it's really hard to work out whether this is an 'elites experimenting with new policies in a backwoods client state' thing, or the Aus govt are just idiots who can't imagine addressing social problems in a more complex way than 'fuck it just make it illegal'
Considering our government's attitude towards the internet is that it is a "fad" that will soon blow over, it's probably more of the latter.
Why not both?
I think it's the majors terrified of losing votes to minors. Labor to the greens and Lib to the teals.
They've both felt threatened, and seen social media be used to shift kids on climate and Palestine. They're doing this alongside electoral reforms to cement funding for a two party system.
Are right-wingers crying censorship?
I bet they aren't, they care more about policing children than they do free speech.
Yes, social media is bad for the mental health of everyone, especially children, but it's also how everyone under 40 gets their news now. This feels like a response to young people learning the Palestinian side of things through Tiktok.
Now they can juice them up on main stream media propaganda while they're young.
No it has bi-partisan support because it's got nothing to do with saving the children and everything to do with digital ID for all citizens. Time to VPN up mateys.
Your digital ID will then shown you're on a VPN
There are ways to avoid VPN detection
Our nerdy friends in China had to get creative for effectively the same reason. For people interested, "shadowsocks" is a decent starting point for reading about censorship circumvention.
Also, it's hard to read about methods of circumvention without being swamped in imperialist propaganda directed mostly at China. The West's vested interests in being able to easily access the Chinese populace also makes me (not just me...) question the origins and integrity of some methods (TOR is a pretty famous one that definitely does work, but allegedly has backdoors for the CIA/FBI).
Lots of interesting stuff out there. Lots of bullshit. Enjoy wading into the waters of endless propaganda
That's probably the goal but I have a feeling it'll backfire and kids will find their way to places like this or they'll just learn how to use VPNs to get around the ban.
They will end up in far worse regulated dark parts of the internet. This has nothing to do with protecting the children. Kinda like how america's PATRIOT act was one of the least patriotic bits of legislation to ever pass at that point in time.
They want all australians to have to prove their real identities to use the internet.
On the plus side every time they try to make something happen with the internet hundreds of thousands of people end up with their data stolen. Wait that's not a plus.
Anyway go ahead, drive them off the internet and into the streets. That'll work out well for them heheheh. 
They will end up in far worse regulated dark parts of the internet.
that's us. or at least, we should make it us going forward
I don't see hexbear on the list
That's because news media are shit and just copy press releases.
All social media is included unless specifically exempted.
As you can see here, online social interaction between two or more users is about as broad as you can get in terms of a definition.
This bit gives the Minister the power to exclude specific services or types of services (like WhatsApp etc.)
Lmaoooooooooo
No online bullying unless it's private
Access to social media as a young teenager melted my brain. I had an Instagram account at 11 and was being bullied by adults at 12. That's not even getting into exposure to porn and grooming. I wish the internet was properly regulated so that young people could have a safe space. But this sure as shit isn't it
Do you have parents? Why did they give you IG at 11? TBH that's how the internet is regulated for most people. Rather than the state violently imposing restrictions on children.
Have you ever considered that the nuclear family is a bad and made up relational structure and doesn't work very well most of the time?
Do you have parents
Do you mean the source of trauma that continues to make the world uninhabitable?
Australia has a history of dumb "somebody think of the children" laws that the children bypass within 20 seconds.
Are small breasts still functionally banned, or has the classification board smartened the fuck up in the last decade?
Excuse me, what's functionally banned now?
This is actually an old internet half-truth. The Australian ratings board's rules refuses classification to porn where the actress "appears" underage, regardless of her actual age, which could potentially possibly lead to porn from small-breasted actresses being refused - but AFAIK that's never actually happened.
ratings board's rules refuses classification to porn where
Does the Australian Ratings Board classify porn otherwise?
Yes, Australian censorship is done through refusing classification, which makes the material illegal to import or sell. But frankly its been a joke for as long as the internet has existed.
Hahaha what a hilarious bureaucrat job rating porn for the state hell yeah what a country
I can't help but feel this is partially an attempt to ban trans youth by proxy - essentially an attempt to limit the ability for a kid to get out from under the thumb of their parents. You can see it in the arguments that claim this ban returns power to the parents - they know they're stifling communities and ways of spreading knowledge.
Australia's never had a proper reckoning with the trans issue - we just keep importing views and controversies. But if push came to shove, I know exactly where this reactionary country is landing
I agree that's a negative consequence of the bill but I think it's unintended. I don't think it has even figured into the planning.
It's surveillance stuff, plus when you're the ostensibly centre-left but actually still reactionary neoliberal party you can't do anything meaningful so you just ban something.
figured into the planning.
Being a bit generous there aren't you? This is "fuck it, she'll be right" Australia we are talking about.
Ehh they’ll still find their way around it with vpns
It’s almost like we should’ve implemented this shit 20+ years ago
cowards
it should be banned for under 60
Over 60 too, but also under 60
You can only use social media for three days after your sixtieth birthday.
Olmate 23 year old tradie is going to get an earful about this when he picks up his girlfriend from high school on Monday arvo. She's gonna be asking for his phone to scroll TikTok
Yay more violent control of children!!! \s
This citations needed fan forum should be off limits to everyone in Australia; those under sixteen years of age as well as those over sixteen years of age.
But on your sixteenth birthday, you get 24 hours to go wild
'world first'
Good. Social media is a cancer that’s played a big role in the far-right surging in popularity.
The amendments passed on Friday bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver’s licenses, nor could they demand digital identification through a government system.
Okay so how will tech companies go about doing this? My best bet is random auditing of every social media profile in the country by "AI" which is actually underpaid workers in the global south.
They will implement it via trusted third party platform service providers like they do every function of government in their quest to turn the citizen into a customer and charge a fee for right to make profit selling access to their people.
Public-Private partnership! 
i would imagine it's gonna be the same "Are you over 18? Y/N" lander page you'd find on most websites with adult content
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