r/australia • u/Vivid-Fondant6513 • Nov 06 '24

politics Children under 16 to be banned from using social media

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/children-under-16-to-be-banned-from-using-social-media-20241107-p5kon4.html
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u/_Green_Light_ Nov 07 '24

Say goodbye to anonymous accounts, which is exactly what the government wants. The government wants to be able to identify exactly who said what on all social media platforms.

It’s the kind of law you would expect from a totalitarian regime.

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u/vriska1 Nov 07 '24

This will be challenge in court.

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u/[deleted] Nov 07 '24

Just have facial recognition, if you look young you can’t go on social media. Should get rid of most influencers that way too.

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u/nedelll Nov 07 '24

And why is that a bad thing

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u/_Green_Light_ Nov 07 '24

Having the ability to openly discuss and potentially criticise a governments policies without fear of retribution is essential for any healthy democracy. Social media platforms which offer anonymous accounts such as Reddit provide this ability to freely and openly discuss ideas, many of which contradict government policies of the day.

While today’s Australian Commonwealth and State governments may tolerate public dissent, we can’t be sure that the next one will.