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Commonwealth tells high court its proposed laws to let users opt out of algorithms would ultimately have the same effect as the ban
Australian government concedes no scientific consensus on social media harms for teenagers – but ‘credible risks’ justify ban Commonwealth tells high court its proposed laws to let users opt out of algorithms would ultimately have the same effect as the banThe Australian government has conceded it implemented the “world-leading” under-16s social media ban before there was scientific consensus on the link between mental health harms and social media use, but argued the “credible risks” of issues such as addictive behaviours and anxiety justify the policy.
, allowing users to opt out of social media features such as algorithms, would ultimately have the same effect as the ban, if implemented. In Reddit’s submission to the court last month, it argued the ban represented a burden on the implied freedom of political communications, while also not addressing the risk of harm.
The company pointed to the exclusion of some platforms from the ban, and the design features the ban was aiming to address still available to users without accounts, as well as the reported number of children under 16Reddit pointed to the government’s proposed digital duty of care legislation, stating: “If the commonwealth wishes to address a problem with content to young people, it could address it directly as part of this proposal. ” Reddit told the court that “there is no scientific consensus about whether there is a causal link between social media use and particular harms”.
In the federal government’s defence, filed on Friday, the Australian government argued the agreed facts in the case identified there were “significant credible risks” of children developing addictive behaviours, disrupted sleep, and worsening depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviours or ideation.
“Uncertainty about causation should not delay action to protect young people,” the government’s submission stated. “The existence of credible risks of harm and credible causal pathways between account-related design features and those risks justifies the parliament’s decision to enact a precautionary protective measure before scientific consensus establishes that it will be effective.
” The Australian government also argued its proposed digital duty of care legislation would effectively require the features targeted by the ban to not be in operation for under-16s on social media.
“Their proper application would require the same action : namely preventing children having accounts or providing children with accounts that do not have any of the features. ” The Australian government has claimed in its defence that the ban has already produced “substantial practical action”, pointing to nearly 5m accounts being removed in December last year, with Reddit itself suspending 43,962 accounts between December and March this year.and doubled the fines that can be sought to nearly $100m for non-compliance, as part of measures to attempt to force the platforms to weed out remaining under-16 users.
The peak US body for tech companies, NetChoice, is also seeking to be heard in the case, alongside digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation . NetChoice members include Meta, Twitch, TikTok, Reddit, Snapchat, X and YouTube – which are all included in the social media ban.
Guardian Essential poll: Coalition’s primary vote sinks to lowest ever as majority support hardline immigration ideas Report supporting Australia’s teen social media ban appears to contain AI hallucinations, Senate hears Senior Greens figures say new leadership must stop Labor approving fossil fuel projects ‘by whatever means’Labor claims Victoria’s new datacentre rules are strongest in Australia but critics point to ‘huge loophole’ ‘Enforcement mode’: Australia must take fight to tech giants to make social media ban stick, experts warn Australia to double penalty for social media ban breaches to $99m as tech giants accused of ‘not doing enough’Albanese government considers ‘world-leading’ ban on smart glasses in public offices and buildings RBA interest rates: Reserve Bank raises cash rate to highest level in 15 years and warns of more hikes ‘if needed’
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