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Saturday Magazine

26 May 2024

Saturday 25th May, 2024: Proposed Social Media Ban for Children, Samantha Floreani, Head of Policy Digital Rights Watch

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Saturday 25th May, 2024: Proposed Social Media Ban for Children, Samantha Floreani, Head of Policy Digital Rights Watch

It would be much better for young people to be supported to navigate social media safely than ban them from it entirely, writes, Samantha Floreani, Head of Policy Digital Rights Watch. in her recent article for The Guardian. Macca and Fiona spoke to her at length about this issue.

Research conducted by the Young and Resilient Research Centre – which prioritises meaningfully engaging with children – notes that while negative experiences on social media do occur, many young people see the online world as a safe haven. They resist adults’ depictions of social media as entirely bad, resent being told what the issues are rather than being listened to, and feel a disconnect with adults’ perceptions of their online worlds.

Proposals to ban access to social media ignore the experiences of young people and steamroll over this complexity. This holds true to other research which suggests digital policy reform regularly omits the perspectives of children and young people.

Online harms and social media are understandably emotive topics but our current debate is too focused on adult fears rather than children’s lived experience. Much of the research that actually talks with young people identifies how they would like to be supported to navigate online interactions safely, not to be told to avoid them entirely”.

 

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/23/australia-social-media-ban-under-16-children-comment

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