INFO Professor Jen Golbeck provides insight as Australia’s proposed social media ban for minors sparks debate over safety, access, and unintended impacts
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In TechNewsWorld’s report “Australia Bans Social Media Accounts for Minors,” University of Maryland College of Information (INFO) Professor Jennifer Golbeck provides critical insight into the country’s sweeping new restrictions. The law, which prohibits anyone under 16 from maintaining accounts on major platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat, has sparked significant debate among policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders. While tech companies begin implementing broad compliance measures, critics warn that the ban could isolate vulnerable teens, drive minors toward unregulated spaces, and introduce new privacy risks through intrusive age-verification processes.
Golbeck argues that Australia’s approach is too blunt and notes that genuine harms, such as body-image impacts exacerbated by algorithmic feeds, should be distinguished from broader moral panic about screen time. She emphasizes that more targeted interventions focused on algorithm design and content delivery would address real risks without undermining beneficial online communities. Other experts echoed her concerns, warning that minors will likely circumvent the ban and that legislation may create even riskier online pathways while destroying parental discretion and expression.
For more on the global debate over youth online safety and platform regulation, read the full article here.
The original article was written by John P. Mello Jr. and published by TechNewsWorld on December 10, 2025.