There are plenty of examples of the government stepping in to ban, restrict or regulate things that are unhealthy or unsafe.
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Smoking, fireworks, alcohol advertising, speeding - these are things most of us can agree on.
And now, the Prime Minister has followed the Opposition Leader's lead, and supported a potential ban on social media for children under the age of 16.
He labelled social media a "scourge", and suggested that a ban, if effective, would be a way to get kids back outside and off their devices.
"Effective" being the operative term here, as it's not clear yet how such a ban could be implemented.
Social media companies have proven they have no interest whatsoever in the welfare of young or vulnerable people who use their platforms, and are only interested in making money.
Those who run them have resisted all attempts to prove they care about the effect their products have on people, as the recent stoush between the eSafety commissioner and X, formerly Twitter, over the Wakeley church stabbing videos shows.
To such people, freedom of speech is paramount, even if it means others are harmed.
How can either the Prime Minister or Peter Dutton expect them to cooperate on instituting a ban on Australians under 16 using social media?
Mr Dutton has already ducked and weaved around such questions, mentioning VPNs, the tax system and other "real life" solutions.
But the fact that the Prime Minister has indicated his support for Mr Dutton's proposal shows that this is beyond a political issue, and that the government can and should play a role to play in keeping young people safe.
News this week that a teenage boy, a student at a private school in Melbourne, was charged after distributing fake nude images of female students, is yet another example of the many ways technology can be exploited, and how hard it is to keep pace.
But this case also shows the growing importance of educating young people about pornography, abuse, bullying, and all the negative consequences of the online world, particularly one that obviates the need for eye contact, and therefore true human connection.
A ban on social media for young people may well have a short term impact, but there are plenty of lessons to be learned from the long and arduous campaigns that had to be rolled out before bans on, say, smoking indoors, driving without a seatbelt or drink driving, were understood by the community as a good thing.
![Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/3BUUzmFAhrhLyX9rFCubPq5/877cdf98-0455-4b5c-bec2-4f0ed6263ed5.jpg/r45_0_5047_2807_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It's not so long ago that X, formerly Twitter, was not much more than a platform for quips and hot takes. And before that, Facebook was a venue to connect with old friends, and keep up with social circles.
Instagram was about sharing images, and Snapchat was an ephemeral dialogue between teens.
All of these platforms have long been well and truly tarnished by a culture of trolling and bullying, and by alarmingly rapid advances in AI.
Obviously boys objectifying girls and manipulating their images is not new, but it has never and will never be acceptable.
Young people need to understand the perils of social media, and the benefits as well.
It is almost impossible for an entire generation to envisage a world without it, and it would be as hard to eliminate as the very internet itself.
A ban in and of itself may not be the answer, but any discussion leading up to one would be a start.
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