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Minors’ online safety: The options beyond Australia’s social media ban
In the efforts to keep minors safe online, there are lessons to be drawn from Australia’s ban, Brazil’s tighter rules and Singapore’s Codes of Practice for Online Safety.
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Different jurisdictions have tried different approaches to keep minors safe online.
PHOTO: REUTERS
In a trial watched closely by online safety advocates, a Los Angeles jury recently found Meta and Google negligent for designing Instagram and YouTube in ways that harm young people. Whereas US law protects social media companies from liability for the content on their platforms, this case focused squarely on platform design rather than content and the companies’ failure to warn users of their products’ potential dangers. This “bellwether” verdict is likely to influence thousands of similar cases consolidated in California.
The case was brought by a 20-year-old woman who claimed to have become addicted to social media as a minor due to attention-capturing features like infinite scroll. Meta was found liable for US$4.2 million (S$5.4 million) in damages and Google (which owns YouTube) US$1.8 million. TikTok and Snapchat were also defendants in the trial but reached a settlement with the plaintiff without disclosing details.
