Why not make parents more

responsible for their child's behaviour on social media?

I really do not see the proposed "social media ban" for those under the age of sixteen as working. It seems to be some sort of fantasy solution the government wants to use as the easy way out of a much more complex problem.  Teens will simply find a way around it. Sixteen year olds are going to ensure that their younger mates have access to the very sort of information this legislation is trying to prevent them from accessing.

The comments about "this is what parents want" and similar remarks raise questions about why parents have given their children access to social media if they now want it banned. It also raises questions about why they believe social media companies should be held responsible for the behaviour of young people who should be in the care and control of their parents. Social media companies are not there "in loco parentis" as the Latin goes. Similarly teachers should only be in that position when they are in contact with students. They need to be aware of it when they are preparing teaching materials but they are not there to "bring up the kids" outside school hours.

It seems to me we are too ready to try and pass what should be our responsibilities on to other people. The government seems to believe it is right to require social media platforms to be responsible for the behaviour of young people. Why? 

I see it as the responsibility of parents in the first instance. School can come in with behavioural expectations as well but the primary responsibility should be with the parents of each and every child.

Along with the proposed misinformation/disinformation bill currently before our federal parliament this bill is going to severely restrict the capacity of young people to act and interact in a world which is now highly dependent on such things. It is going to give the government of the day a much greater capacity to ensure that only the information they want young people to have is accessible to them. It is wide open to abuse.

So far we are the only country in the "free" world which is attempting to restrict access to social media. Yes, there are other countries which would like to do the same thing but they have held back for technical reasons as well as social reasons. Will they now try to get everyone to "verify" their age? The claim that such information will be safe and secure is nonsense - and they know it.