Will mental health concerns sink social media platforms? A US politician has called TikTok “digital fentanyl”. Some schools are suing social media companies alleging that the platforms have caused a youth mental health crisis. Yet the companies warn that cutting off young people could also damage mental health. A world-first law banning social media for children under 16 was passed in Australia. Other countries could well follow.
Under the law, Australians under 16 will be banned from opening accounts on all major social media platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Reddit — even with parental permission. The social media groups will be responsible for policing this, or face fines of up to $32.5mn.
The penalty itself is negligible. Revenues at Meta were $40.6bn in the latest quarter. TikTok parent company ByteDance’s hit $110bn last year.