Australia is about to Ban Social Media for 16 Y.O. and Below, this is the Note Indonesian Academics can Take

Contributor : Vidya Pinandhita, Monash University

The Australian Government is about to restrict social media for 16 years old and below by December 2024. Despite the public’s massive heated discussion on social media regarding this new decree, the obligation has been introduced as a broad strategy to create a safe digital realm.

According to the official page of the Australian Government’s eSafety Commissioner, this new directive will restrict children 16 years old on creating or keeping social media accounts. This aims to amplify the protection towards young users, owing to the rapid flow of harmful content nowadays. In addition, this regulation is based on the government’s concern regarding several features such as alerts and notifications that have been found to be negatively impacting users’ sleep quality, stress level and attention span.

Referring to a report based on a survey of nearly 4,000 people released by the government earlier this week, nine out of ten people support the idea of a social media ban to protect children from the exposure to online harms. It is noteworthy that the survey found that nearly half of all young people aged 8-17 had been exposed to inappropriate content on their social media feeds.

Nonetheless, this new mandate has triggered the public's altercation, due to the potency of ineffectiveness.

“The government knows social media age-restrictions will not be the end-all be-all solution for harms experienced by young people online but they will make a significant impact”, said the Minister for Communications, Anika Wells, said on her official page.

Similar Puzzle in Indonesia

Indonesians are no less puzzled. Sufficient protection towards the social media use for children is still a big question mark. Alongside the potential perils of online harms, the government is still on their attempt to ascertain the most ideal regulation regarding the age classification of social media-platform access for the users, particularly for the children and teenagers.

Due to the projected classification thus far, each platform may require a different age-minimum rule based on the level of harm risk. For instance, educational sites may be allowed to be accessed by children 13 years old and above due to its low risk of harm. Whilst platforms with high risk of cyberbullying and pornographic content will be accessible only for users who are 16 years old and above.

"There are other countries that already have this rule, which sets the age limit at 16 years for all. However, we've received a lot of input and are listening to it," The Minister of Communications and Digital Affairs of Indonesia, Meutya Hafid, said on the official page of Portal Informasi Indonesia.

The Cruciality of Media Literacy

Despite the potential regulation, media literacy has been highly expected to protect the internet users from the perils of social media. Alongside the rapid growth of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), a survey in Australia in 2024 has implied public’s perception regarding the vital role of media literacy to protect the internet users from online harms. In this regard, media literacy can be optimised to amplify people’s media knowledge, effectively delivered by media organisations, universities, community, libraries and museums.

The question now is, are we really ready to encounter the rapid growth of digital media? Are we, the Indonesians and the academics, sufficiently equipped already to protect the children from the perils of online realms?

As the screen is always in your hands, so is the answer.

References

The Australian Government’s eSafety Commissioner (2025) Social Media Age Restrictions, eSafety Commissioner, accessed in 31 July 2025

https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions

The Australian Government (The Hon Anika Wells MP) (2025) Research findings show strong support for online age assurance, The Hon Anika Wells MP, accessed in 31 July 2025

https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/wells/media-release/research-findings-show-strong-support-online-age-assurance

Portal Informasi Indonesia (2025) Minister of Communication and Digital: Socialization of the Tunas PP will take quite a long time before its implementation, Portal Informasi Indonesia, accessed in 31 July 2025

https://indonesia.go.id/kategori/sosial-budaya/9736/menkomdigi-sosialisasi-pp-tunas-butuh-waktu-cukup-panjang-sebelum-penerapannya?lang=1

Notley, T., Chambers, S., Park, S., Dezuanni, M. (2024) Adult Media Literacy in 2024: Australian Attitudes, Experiences and Needs. Western Sydney University, Queensland University of Technology and University of Canberra, doi: 10.60836/n1a2-dv63