Worth reading re age-related restrictions on social media. Details the Australian legacy-media-led (who benefits?) campaigns & lack of benefits outside that group. As the push spreads:
“What is different about the European moment is the scale of expert opposition already assembled: a broad, cross-disciplinary consensus that the approach being contemplated is the wrong one.

“The Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty, published a clear rebuke this February: "Banning children's access to social media shifts the responsibility for safety from the platforms that create the environment to the children who navigate it." He called on governments to prioritize binding legal duties, algorithmic transparency, and robust DSA enforcement before reaching for restrictions. The source of harm, he argued, is the platforms' design and incentives, not the children using them.

“Eurochild, the network representing children's rights organizations across Europe, put it with equal directness in its February 2026 position paper: "The choice is not simply between a 'ban' and 'no ban'. That framing obscures the real issue." Eurochild does not call for a blanket ban. It calls for a rights-based framework targeting platform business models — attention extraction, profiling, addictive design — rather than the children navigating them. Its core argument: "Age restrictions can never replace regulation or company responsibility."”

https://www.techpolicy.press/youve-been-murdoched-australias-teen-ban-offers-a-warning-for-europe/

#socialMediaAgeRestrictions #ageRelatedRestrictions #SocialMediaBans #socialMedia #AusPol #legacyMedia #AustralianCampaigns #hoodwinked #performative #banningAccessByChildren

How Australia’s social media ban has affected families six months on
By Alfie Packham and Jane Clinton

As UK ban for under-16s is confirmed, experience of Australian parents of similar restrictions has been mixed

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/15/how-australia-social-media-ban-has-affected-families-six-months-on

#Socialmediabans #Socialmediaban #Socialmediaban #Youngpeople #Australianews #Socialmedia #Internetsafety #UKnews #Worldnews #AlfiePackham #JaneClinton

How Australia’s social media ban has affected families six months on
By Jane Clinton and Alfie Packham

As UK ban for under-16s is confirmed, experience of Australian parents of similar restrictions has been mixed

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/15/how-australia-social-media-ban-has-affected-families-six-months-on

#Socialmediabans #Socialmediaban #Socialmediaban #Youngpeople #Australianews #Socialmedia #Internetsafety #UKnews #Worldnews #JaneClinton #AlfiePackham

Parents in Australia: is the under-16s social media ban working?
By Guardian community team

Six months after Australia introduced its world-first ban on social media for under-16s, we would like to hear from parents and carers about whether it is making a difference

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jun/10/parents-australia-is-under-16s-social-media-ban-working

#Socialmediaban #Australianews #Socialmediabans #Guardiancommunityteam

#Canada #Censorship: "The federal government plans to propose a ban on social media use for children under the age of 16 as part of its highly anticipated online harms bill that will be introduced Wednesday, Global News has learned.

A government source confirmed the plans Monday ahead of the bill’s formal introduction. The source requested anonymity to publicly discuss the bill.

Culture Minister Marc Miller told reporters he couldn’t comment on the contents of the bill before he tables it in the House of Commons.

The Globe and Mail first reported on the forthcoming online harms bill earlier Monday.

The proposed social media ban for youth under 16 would follow action first taken in Australia, where the measure took effect last December.

Other countries including the United Kingdom, Spain and South Korea are considering their own youth social media bans. Malaysia enacted its own ban on social media accounts for users under 16 last week, while Brazil now requires youth accounts to be linked to those of a legal guardian to ensure supervision."

https://globalnews.ca/news/11894610/canada-social-media-ban-teens-online-harms-bill/

#SocialMedia #SocialMediaBans #OnlineHamsBill #Surveillance