Moral Panic and Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban: A Critical Youth Work Perspective

From a critical youth work standpoint, the ban risks eroding youth rights, undermining professional practice, and diverting political attention away from more systemic reforms. A rights-based, participatory approach offers a more sustainable and equitable path to enhancing young people’s safety and wellbeing in digital environments. By enforcing a blanket restriction, the policy infantilises and homogenises young people, setting a precedent for future exclusionary policies, such as raising the legal age to vote or obtain a driver’s licence. It is also likely to generate new challenges, such as the rise of less regulated or legally circumventive social media platforms.

These dilemmas are not unique to Australia. In the UK, the Online Safety Act (2023) reflects similar anxieties but pursues a different approach, placing greater responsibility on platforms rather than banning young people outright. Both cases highlight a global struggle to balance protection with participation, safety with rights. These developments raise broader questions: Have we learned nothing from past attempts at prohibition and ‘protective’ policies? Will other countries follow this world-first political measure? Should they? Panic logic would say yes; critical youth work argues otherwise.