eSafety calls on social media giants to reveal just how many Aussie kids are signing up
eSafety Commissioner
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has requested information from some of the world’s most popular social media and messaging services to find out just how many Australian children are on their platforms and what age assurance measures they have in place to enforce their own age limits.
eSafety has sent a series of questions to Google’s YouTube, Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, Snap, Reddit, Discord and Twitch, through expanded transparency powers under the Government’s recently-updated Basic Online Safety Expectations Determination.
The recently amended Determination broadens the areas eSafety can ask industry to report back on and establishes expectations that companies will take steps to keep users safe online, including being transparent when asked questions by the regulator.
The requests for information to the eight companies coincide with National Child Protection Week and eSafety’s launch of new online safety resources and campaign designed to give greater protection to children and help build the confidence of parents and carers to deal with online risks to children.
“We know that when it comes to keeping children safe online, we need a multi-pronged approach,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said. “Imposing age limits is on the table but we also need better information to understand what will be effective, what the unintended consequences could be and we must absolutely support children in building their digital resilience and critical reasoning skills.
“We are having a really important conversation in this country right now about the potential damaging effects social media might be having on our children and our research shows that almost two-thirds of 14-17 year-olds have viewed potentially harmful content in the past year including drug use, self-harm and violent images, but we also know that teens get many benefits from social media.
“A key aspect of this conversation is having some solid data on just how many kids are on these platforms today and the range of their ages which is a key focus of these requests.
“But we also want to assess age assurance readiness and find out how these platforms accurately determine age to prevent children who are under the permitted age from gaining access, and ensure appropriate protections for those who are allowed on the services.
“Most of these platforms have their own age limits in place, commonly 13, but we also want to know how they are detecting and removing under-aged users and how effective this age enforcement is.
“eSafety research shows that almost a quarter of 8-10 year-olds said they used social media weekly or more often, while close to half of 11-13 year-olds said they used social media at the same rate.
“Research by our sister regulator Ofcom in the UK, also showed that half of children aged 3-12 use at least one social media app or site. So, we know kids are finding ways around current measures to determine age and we want to better assess how far these companies need to go to implement robust and effective age assurance mechanisms.
“To ensure the safety of young Australians, we need to provide them – and their parents, carers and educators – with effective education and prevention strategies.”
eSafety's new online safety resources include practical tips for keeping children safe on games, apps and social media and conversation starters to help parents and carers have age-appropriate conversations about online harms including child sexual abuse.
“These resources are designed to empower parents and educators so they can support children when things go wrong online. Open conversations about technology use and encouraging help-seeking behaviour are paramount here,” Ms Inman Grant said.
“To be sure, it cannot all fall on the shoulders of kids, parents and teachers, industry need to play their part too by taking a Safety by Design approach to make their platforms safer for all users, including children.”
The eight companies will have 30 days to provide responses to the eSafety Commissioner and appropriate findings will be summarised in a public report.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please phone 0439 519 684 or email media@esafety.gov.au