Millions of teenagers in Australia were locked out of social media accounts Wednesday as a new government ban for under-16s took effect, a first-of-its-kind measure. The ban follows detailed research into the effects of online access on children and is being considered by several other countries.
Australia Social Media Ban for Under-16s Takes Effect
Australian eSafety research found that seven in 10 children aged 10 to 15 have encountered harmful content online. Three-quarters of those instances – including misogyny, violence, disordered eating and content related to suicide – occurred on social media platforms.
“We are seeking to create some friction [in the] system to protect children where previously there has been close to none … We are treating big tech like the extractive industry it has become,” Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said earlier this year.
Questions remain about the practicalities of enforcing the ban, and concerns have been raised about the removal of positive online experiences for some young people.
Five Essential Reads in This Week’s Edition
Spotlight | Syria, one year after Assad While the country’s return to the global stage has filled many Syrians with pride, domestic grievances threaten efforts to rebuild the state. William Christou reports from Damascus.
Feature | The inside story of the race to create the ultimate AI In Silicon Valley, rival companies are spending trillions of dollars to reach a goal that could change humanity – or potentially destroy it. Robert Booth reports.
Feature | On the trail of London’s snail farming don Terry Ball – renowned shoe salesman, friend to former mafiosi – has vowed to spend his remaining years finding ways to cheat authorities he feels have cheated him. His greatest ruse? A tax-dodging snail empire. Jim Waterson caught up with him.
Opinion | What words are left to describe Trump’s global rampage? Deadly US boat strikes in the Caribbean are the latest example of a president corrupting both the law and morality, argues Jonathan Freedland.
Culture | The best books of 2025 From fiction to food, people to poetry, science to sport: Guardian critics round up the year’s essential reads.
What Else We’ve Been Reading
- The power and comfort that sewing or knitting offers prisoners is often evidenced in textile exhibitions. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s story of how making clothes for her daughter, Gabrielle, was an act of love and resilience during her six years’ detention in Iran, and how her new collaboration with Liberty and London’s Imperial War Museum encompasses solidarity, is a beautiful invitation to see the exhibition. Isobel Montgomery, deputy editor
- Christmas should be a time of cheer – but it’s too often also one characterised by excess and waste. If you want to shrink your festive footprint, these practical, expert-backed tips from the Guardian’s Filter team can help make the season more sustainable. Graham Snowdon, editor
Other Highlights From The Guardian Website
- Audio | Is AI a bubble that’s about to pop?
- Video | Today in Focus: The Latest. The biggest story of the day in 10 minutes, every weekday evening
- Gallery | ‘They rose out of the ground!’: Scotland’s brutalist beauties
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