Social Media Repackaged (The Naked City)

‘Social Media Repackaged‘, about the Australian federal government’s social media ban for people under the age of 16, is the latest column (November 18, 2024) from Coffin Ed‘s The Naked City column – featured exclusively on City Hub.

The federal government’s plan to get the under sixteens away from the evils of social media seems well intended although actual implementation appears highly problematic.

Banning something doesn’t always rectify the problem even though it might halt the immediate proliferation. Illegal narcotics are the obvious example but over the years there have been numerous blanket bans that either backfire, are easily circumvented or simply don’t work.

It might seem a trivial, almost absurd analogy, but the history of a once popular confectionary has distinct parallels with the current social media debate. In the 50s and 60s cigarette smoking was regarded as an everyday right with its health implications seldom discussed. People puffed away in picture theatres, on planes, in restaurants and just about anywhere with virtually no restrictions. The various states had different laws as to when juveniles could buy tobacco products but kids at home were often subjected to hours of passive smoking when dad and mum lit up.

Not surprisingly youngsters were easily conditioned by their nicotine obsessed elders and advertising icons like the very macho ‘Marlboro Man’. They couldn’t buy the real thing but chocolate ciggies, packaged just like the popular brands, were a great substitute. Pull out a packet of those at primary school and you were a real hero!

As smoking in public places became gradually outlawed throughout the 80s and 90s, chocolate and candy cigarettes were also banned, in all states of Australia. They were regarded as an encouragement for children to graduate to the adult product and they soon became socially unacceptable. 

That is until an almost identical product started appearing about a decade ago, labelled not as chocolate ciggies but ‘choc stics’. The packaging looks just like the well known nicotine brands but without the health warnings and ghastly pics of cancerous gums. You wonder what happens to the naughty young boy who whips out a packet in the playground at school, as the teacher sneaks away for a puff behind the bushes. 

One of the main reasons for a social media ban for the under sixteens is to prevent what seems to be an epidemic of bullying, and that’s hard to argue against. However, does it mean that once a young Australian turns sixteen they can unleash a tidal wave of built up vitriol and hate speech against anybody they don’t like. With such an arbitrary cut off point and so many questions as to how the ban would be enforced, the legislation could easily become a legal, moral and operational minefield. 

For example, what will the penalties or punishment be for the fourteen or fifteen year old who does manage to get around the social media ban to regularly access X, TikTok or Snapchat and pursue some kind of dialogue, be it completely friendly or downright malicious.

The onus has been put on the social media companies to police their networks or cop huge fines but what about the actual offenders? No ‘choc stics’ for a week for you my boy!  

A report by the Cancer Council in October of last year indicated that some 87% of teenagers aged fourteen to seventeen had little trouble in accessing illegal vapes. It demonstrated not only is it easy for teens to evade the law but in doing so it adds a certain sense of glamour and daring. Surely the same will apply to breaching social media restrictions. Teenagers have long demonstrated their ingenuity when it comes to bucking the system and breaking a whole range of misdemeanours such as underage drinking, drug taking and other acts of rebellion. 

Just how the under sixteens would evade the proposed ban remains to be seen, but history tells us many will in fact attempt to do so. In a family where there are older brothers and sisters, happily slagging off at all and sundry on their phones and laptops, there is bound to be some collusion. If there’s a cyber backdoor to be opened, bypassing any age verification or face identification, it’s probably already ajar. 

And what about porn and all the other grubby content on the internet through which many under sixteens are already trawling. Will that be restricted somehow along with the social media sites?

We have created a monster that simply can’t be caged, despite all the best intentions in the world. It’s enough to make you want to light up a packet of chocolate cigarettes!