It’s not working

Friend, it’s not working.

Advocates for the social media ban are starting to sound like communists.  

“It’s a great idea! It just hasn’t been done right! No, the USSR, Cuba, China, North Korea...they all just did it wrong!”…🙄🙄 

Friend, I want to you to read some of the following commentary for yourself and decide where this policy has landed for our mates in Australia.

Don’t take our words, judge for yourself… 

A 14-year-old in Australia, whose parents had already banned social media at home, hoped a government ban would level the playing field and bring her peers offline with her. Instead, as she put it:

“I thought the social media ban would make things equal… but it didn’t really work.”

Seems like the best form of ban is the one we’ve advocated for since day one: a parent directed ban!  

Perhaps the biggest win for ban advocates is this: convincing the public that the answer is complex, when it’s not. It’s parents, education, and targeted enforcement.

Here’s some quotes to consider:

“The world's biggest social media companies are not doing enough to keep children in Australia off their platforms, the country's internet regulator says, despite a law that came into effect late last year.”

“After three months, Grant announced ... five companies had not done enough to make good on this promise”

Do you think they would ever admit if the policy was a failure?  

At what point do we ask whether the problem isn’t compliance, but the policy itself?…🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

Advocates insist the law doesn’t have to cover everyone - just enough to make a dent. Yet one pupil reported that, of the 180 girls in her year, only three had been removed from platforms.

Anecdotal, perhaps, but revealing. That’s 3 out of 180. A 1.67% success rate. How’s a 1.67% rate, aye?

Worth the money spent on this policy? Worth the data farming? Worth the age-gating?  Worth the establishment of a state regulator of the internet as recommended by the Select Committee Inquiry??

Ultimately, this all comes down to an abdication of parental responsibility. "Parents...have said the law is empowering them to say NO to requests by their kids to have social media accounts.”

It’s not a good sign when we rely on the state to regulate the smallest habits of our children.  

I am reminded of a funny proverb: "When a horse is dead, dismount."

A policy that has failed...has failed. Simple as that.

We should be humble enough to accept this reality and change tact. Doubling down will only make things worse.  

Friend, the world is a chaotic place, it always has been. In the midst of this chaos, small policy decisions such as a social media ban can have massive ripple effects on the everyday functions of our lives. There are good answers to dealing with social media, we’ve noted these extensively in the past. However, in just a couple of months, the Government will be releasing their proposal for a potential social media ban. When that day comes, I want you to remember and consider the lessons from Australia noted above.  

Friend, the world is kind of chaotic. And in that chaos, policies that seem small - like a social media ban - can quietly reshape everyday life. There are better ways to address social media issues; we’ve argued that consistently.

Our Government will soon release its proposal on the matter. When it does,remember the lessons from Australia and what happens when policy doesn’t match reality.

When a horse is dead, dismount. 

Right now, this policy seems a ‘dead horse’ to me.