Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

One of the early scenes in the 2010 movie The Social Network depicted young women at Harvard recoiling in disgust as they discover a website created by one of their peers that allowed male students to compare them based on their so-called 'hotness'. The website was a precursor to what would become Facebook. It's a scene that reminds us that, right from the very beginning, these platforms were not necessarily designed to inform, educate or bring out the best in human behaviour; they were designed to attract attention, drive engagement of any kind and keep users hooked at all costs. Back then, it wasn't just harmless fun; it was harmful, hurtful and damaging. Twenty years later, the platforms are bigger, more sophisticated and more powerful than ever before, and so too are the harms. That is why keeping children safe online should be a bipartisan issue.

When the Albanese Labor government introduced the social media minimum age of 16 last year, we did so because we listened to parents, educators, experts and young people. We recognised that, while social media can offer connection and opportunity, it can also expose children to bullying, harassment and harmful content in ways previous generations never experienced. Last December, I visited Morialta Secondary College in my electorate of Sturt with the Minister for Communications and the Premier of South Australia to discuss the social media ban, and what struck me most was how thoughtful and insightful the students were about it. These are young people who have grown up online. Social media is a part of the world they have always known, yet they were remarkably forthright about its downsides. They spoke about algorithms that keep them scrolling, the pressure to seek approval through likes and followers, and the impact social media was having on their confidence, self-esteem and mental health. They understood something that the big tech companies seem reluctant to admit, which is that these platforms are not simply passive products; they are designed to keep people engaged and capture attention. They were not designed to protect our kids, and that is why we introduced the world-leading social media minimum age.

But, six months into the operation of these laws, it's clear that some of the world's largest tech companies are barely bothering to comply. The eSafety Commissioner has identified serious compliance concerns and is actively investigating five major platforms due to their noncompliance. All the Albanese Labor government is seeking to do is to give the eSafety Commissioner stronger information-gathering powers so she can obtain the evidence needed to investigate noncompliance and take enforcement action. The commissioner herself has said that any delay to these powers delays enforcement of the social media minimum age and delays the improved safety protections Australian children deserve. We also intend to double the maximum penalty for noncompliance to almost $100 million. These are some of the richest and most powerful corporations in the world, and, if penalties are to act as a real deterrent, they must be significant enough to get their attention.

But we need action from the entire parliament, in this place and in the other place, for that to happen. I call on all members and senators to walk together to take this action. I do that because this issue is also deeply personal for me. In my first speech to this parliament, I spoke about my own experience of bullying at school. As a shy young girl who moved schools a lot, I was an easy target. School was not always a good place for me, but I could escape from it, to a degree, at home. Now, bullying no longer stops when the school day ends. Children endure it before school, after school and on weekends because of social media, and the harassment is public, relentless and impossible to escape. A cruel comment can be shared instantly. An embarrassing image can spread to hundreds of people. What once happened in a classroom or playground can now follow a child forever. No child should have to face that alone. No parent should be expected to fight some of the biggest companies in the world on their own. That is why I call on those opposite to please put Australian children and families ahead of big tech and support this important work.

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