The dangers of social media for children are very real. Research is rife with cases of abuse, manipulation and bullying.
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Social media use has sparked a "significant public health problem", Queensland's chief health officer said this week.
This followed new data which showed self-harm hospitalisations for young teenage girls has tripled in the past 15 years.
State governments are pursuing social media bans. The Queensland government wants to raise the minimum age for social media accounts to 14 and South Australia is also considering a ban on under 14s using social media. Meanwhile, NSW Premier Chris Minns said the ban should apply to children under 16.
The ACT is open to considering bans on young people accessing social media but wants any ban to be nationally consistent.
A nationally consistent approach is crucial because it would be absurd to have a situation where a 14-year-old could access social media in Queensland but in NSW they would have to wait another two years.
But a ban is not the only approach and it would only be a matter of time before children would find a way to circumvent this.
Most social media companies already require children to be over 13 before they can create account. That hasn't stopped many children signing up with a fake age.
The federal government is trialling online age verification technology which could make it harder, but not impossible.
A ban also doesn't take into consideration the benefits of social media. The apps have made it easier for kids to stay more connected with their friends and family.
Hannah Robertson, a PhD candidate studying social networks, told The Canberra Times restricting children's online access means blocking them from a really important part of society.
Tighter regulation on social media companies can be pursued by putting in place more obligations to protect younger people from harm.
However, this could be difficult as social media companies have shown complete disdain for the Australian government and present as purely driven by self-interest.
News may disappear from Facebook and Instagram feeds shortly as parent company Meta will no longer pay for news content in Australia. This will simply allow misinformation to run rife.
X, formerly Twitter, owner Elon Musk is battling the Australian e-safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant over the former's refusal to block videos of a brutal church stabbing in a western Sydney church.
The issue of social media use among children is complicated but it is absolutely clear something must be done to curb this "significant public health problem".