Jo Briskey (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications. How is the Albanese Labor government protecting the next generation of Australians from the perversive pool of social media and giving parents across the country peace of mind?

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Sport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Maribyrnong for her question. As a psychologist and a fierce advocate for Australian families, she knows the importance of the protection of the wellbeing of Australian kids. Give our kids 36 more months—it was a simple request for a complicated issue that has now created generational change. It was a request made by an army of 150,000 parents, like Mia, Rob and Emma, who came to this place today to take the next step on our collective mission to reduce online harms experienced by young Australians.

Today the Albanese government again shows its commitment to putting families at the heart of our decision-making, tabling the rules of Australia's world-leading social media minimum-age laws. In response to advice from the eSafety Commission, the online safety rules tabled today specify which types of online services will not be captured by the social media law, including health and education, messaging apps and games. These types of online services have been excluded from the minimum-age obligations because they pose fewer social media harms to under-16s or are regulated under different laws.

We are implementing these rules and this law on behalf of parents who want and deserve better protections for their kids online, which is why I want to be clear about YouTube. I was required by the law to seek advice from the eSafety Commissioner on the draft rules, and the eSafety Commissioner's advice was clear. Four out of 10 Australian kids have had their most recent or most harmful experience on YouTube, and, on top of that, YouTube uses the same persuasive design features as other social media platforms, like infinite scroll, autoplay and algorithmic feeds.

Against this content and these features ubiquitous across all social media platforms, our kids don't stand a chance, and that is why I accepted the eSafety Commissioner's recommendation that YouTube should not be treated differently from other social media platforms. I will not be intimidated by legal threats, when this is a genuine fight for the wellbeing of Australian kids, a fight to help Mia, Rob and Emma change lives. There is no perfect solution when it comes to keeping younger Australians safe online. We accept that, but the social media minimum-age laws will make a meaningful difference. There's a place for social media, but there's not a place for predatory algorithms that cause our children harm.