So the ban came in today. What a fucking shitshow. (sorry for swearing, I'll try not use it excessively)
I have just lost the ability to chat to about 75% of my friends who are under 16.
Does the government understand how many lifelines were just cut?
Does the government realise that SOME social media provides a safe place for someone to vent or actually feel accepted?
Does the government realise that letting someone have social media at the age where a kid can have sex (16 in most Aussie states, 17 in South Australia) means there's NO learning about sex and how to do it safely apart from sex ed? Which mind you (in my school at least) is only in 7th and 8th grade?
What the hell Albonese.
It was rushed. The ban was only proposed like what, a year ago? Even YouTube called out that the ban will make the platform more UNSAFE for under 16's as it logs them out.
I can understand SOME platforms being banned (e.g. Reddit, Twitter/X, maybe Snapchat) but a there are platforms that many people just use for messaging (e.g. Discord, Whatsapp, though idk if either are affected)
I swear to god, someone help me create a poll or something that the Australian Government will see so we can at least push the age to be strictly 13 (the age you start high school).
Like hell, bring in the same stuff we've just been forced but at 13-14 instead. At 15+ you're coming to an age where you sorta need some independence and there will always be bullies.
The internet is scary to lawmakers because they grew up without it.
We (Late Millennial/Gen Z/Gen Alpha) were raised on the internet, finding so much and having access to see the things we truly enjoy (for me when I was 14, I rediscovered Twenty One Pilots for example).
Rally up against the adults, why should we be silenced? If you're coming up to being an adult, you need some exposure I feel. The world is truly cruel, hell, even I have wanted to end myself because of it. But how about the billionaires actually fund platforms to have MUCH better moderation and report systems?
I'm sure Mark Zuckerberg could pour a few billion into Instagram and Facebook to make them safe.
I'm sure Google could pour billions into YouTube to better the ads system and child safety stuff.
I'm sure China could afford to ramp up safety on TikTok.
You get the gist?
A ban isn't the answer. It's silencing voices of those who suffer.
Thank you for listening.
Prohibition has never worked for anything ever. Young people verses Politicians. I'm pretty sure I'll back the kids on this one. This is a vote losing disaster waiting to happen for this Government.
Eh. I'm a taxpayer and I'd pour considerable money into this before I gave up on it.
Start here to have your voice heard: Digital Freedom Project | Protecting the Rights of all Australians Online
This ban does not affect me but I support the use of the Internet freely, I have signed the document and will share the link with others
I've signed it and sent the link to others too :)
It's never the good guys implementing censorship
And I though Albo was good smh (Albo is short for Albonese, our Prime Minister)
Still better than Dutton
Oh yea fr
I do online school, my friends are MILES AWAY, shit home situation, poor mental health whit no outside way to escape reality.
How many teens are like this? before i had friend's i could vent to i had onlie friend's that where there for me. I was there for them.
Unfortunately the Internet to some extreme has been away for most teens to take a breather from life.
Banning social apps is also silencing victims and so much I can't express in English.
Aye, I'm here dude. I understand your situation to a degree.
Oooo looks like an opportunity for a new social media app to pop up to bypass the government.
Discord and Whatsapp are unaffected, if I had the tools and connections I'd try do it myself for a fun adhd project lol
Idk how
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Welcome to "The Govt does something stupid and unenforceable to Impress Boomers"
You should either get used to it or start threatening to vote against politicians who supported it.
Considering I'm 18 next year, I can make a (very small) difference lol
Have you tried going outside and using your mouth to make sounds at nearby humans?
I live a solid 5 km from town and none of my friends live close (some are as far away as 50+ km)
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Kinda happened here in the uk with the online safety act which just exists for surveillance
I havent done anything to get past it. But im still here
Apparently it can take up to 48 hrs for the ban to fully implement, so good luck soldier.
(also seeing your tag, you are 100% valid girly)
Thank you :3 ill enjoy my time while it lasts
umm have your friends use reddit if simple phone calls and mobile texts are neanderthal. I think email still exists. is there anything in the govts rationale for this egregious imposition besides getting youths out of their bedrooms , or did they just make it up for fun
I haven't had enough money to get a new phone (my last one got lost in public) so I can't do that. I also don't know their personal nor school emails.
Apparently it's to "improve mental health" but speaking from experience, it's bs.
If it helps, I didn’t have social media as a teenager. It was a better time. I think your government is just trying to protect kids and teens from all the evils that come with social media. If I were to have kids, I wouldn’t let them use social media. Your government is like a good parent trying to protect u. Kids lately are obsessed with TikTok and their social media presence and that’s not what life should be about. U can still call your friends who are under 16 and talk on the phone or hang out in person. Also, getting off social media will give kids time for hobbies and for living in the real world. I wish the social media ban were in the US too. Kids here are fucked up from their obsession with TikTok.
I can understand your point, but if the government is pushing for EV's to be mainstream, then why not embrace technology fully? Bullying is going to happen regardless, all of that will happen as it did when you were a teen.
Also as I've shared a lot, I don't have a phone right now so I can't contact them.
I wish my government were pushing for EVs to go mainstream. :( I’m American where Trump is starting a war against Venezuela to steal their oil while at the same time is shutting down all windmills and green energy sources. BTW he hates windmills so much because out of the window of one of his properties he can see a few and he hates the view. He talks about windmills killing the birds yet his anti-environmental policies killed over a million birds in his first term. Many more animals will die now that he’s dictator.
You’re Australian and have a democracy! Enjoy life and please feel lucky you live somewhere amazing cause most of us Americans would do anything to trade places with u right now!!
I'm sure you'll hear enough about Australian politics soon enough, Reddit has just filed a complaint (maybe lawsuit??) to the high court about the ban so :P
I'm well aware of Trump, it's all I get in my social media feeds (even when I don't interact with it). A lot of journalists are calling Australia the "guinea pig" for all the new digital ID stuff.
Eww what’s this about a digital ID? Do they record everything about u based on your social media presence or something?
Btw I hope ur teens get Reddit back. I don’t really consider this social media as much like it doesn’t seem like it would be as damaging to self esteem as places like TikTok or instagram
Yea the Aussie government is pushing for 100% digital ID apparently, which is stupid. Why would I want to risk someone stealing my identity (not that you'd want to) if they can guess my password to my government app (mySA.gov?? I think lol)?
And yea, Reddit has actually come up to the High Court trying to appeal about privacy concerns and free speech stuff.
I’ve been hacked and my whole identity stolen so I personally hate anything online. I hate that we’re going down this road. Make sure all your passwords are unique, don’t ever use the same password twice, and check the privacy settings on your phone and devices to make sure everything is secure. I was stupid and for years didn’t update my iPad cause I didn’t want the battery to start dying faster. It worked but I missed out on the security updates.
I update my stuff as soon as it's available, but my own stupidity is why I can't have unique passwords :P
I learned about safe sex from puberty books
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I use social media to make sure my friends don't kill themselves? And I don't use it addictively, I actually get my friends OFF their phones irl and we chat in person.
not all people on social media use it addictively, its an efficient way to contact friends