SYDNEY : For Tereza Hussein, a 14-year-old refugee who lives in Darwin, Australia’s planned social media ban would mean losing a direct line to the most important person to her: a grandmother she has never physically met.
“It’s the only way I’ve ever connected to my grandma before, over socials,” said Hussein, who was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo but lived in a refugee camp in Malawi before settling in Australia when she was nine.
“It’s going to have a very big change in my life because it’s going to be hard for me to talk to the people that I’ve left behind,” she said.
While Hussein rarely posts on social media, she uses Meta’s Instagram and Snapchat primarily to view and discuss photos and videos from family and friends.
She represents what experts say is a blind spot in a plan by Australia’s government to put an age minimum on social media in response to concerns about bullying, predatory grooming and physical and mental health.
For teenagers from migrant, LGBTQIA+ and other minority backgrounds, an age block could cut off access to essential social support.
Some 97 per cent of Australian teenagers use social media across an average of four platforms, surveys show, making them among the world’s most connected youth.
Nearly two-thirds of parents of Australian teenagers reported concerns about their children’s social media use, according to a 2024 survey by youth service ReachOut.
Now the government wants to curb social media addiction by cutting the cord.
While the ban is yet to be legislated and at present lacks key details – such as which ages and platforms it would affect – the government’s first step is to trial age verification.
Youth advocates, however, warn the ban will cut social connections for vulnerable youth and have instead called for tech platforms to better enforce safe interactions.
“The
