A child’s place is not on social media: Why Australia banned social media for under-16s

This podcast explores the urgent global movement demanding social media bans for children under 16, following the groundbreaking legislation established in Australia on 10 December 2025. We investigate why a child’s place is not on social media, examining the "crisis of maturity" that renders adolescents "fundamentally ill-equipped" to navigate psychologically manipulative digital platforms. Drawing on settled science, we detail how the teenage brain's developing prefrontal cortex and dramatically changing dopamine system are "neurobiologically primed" for reward-seeking behaviour, making them exquisitely vulnerable to the engagement-maximizing mechanics of social media.

Discover how platforms exploit this developmental reality through infinite scroll feeds, notification pings, and personalized algorithms that actively train young brains to crave digital validation metrics such as likes and follower counts. Since widespread social media adoption, rates of adolescent depression and anxiety have risen dramatically, with correlation no longer in question. Adolescents spending over 3 hours daily on platforms face double the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms, compounded by a "sleep disruption cascade" that impairs self-regulation and emotional processing.

We challenge the pervasive notion of "parental choice," comparing the resistance to social media regulation to the historical opposition to mandatory seatbelts and tobacco restrictions. The Australian ban and the subsequent regulatory momentum in nations like Norway, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom are forcing a confrontation with corporate business models that prioritize profit over the protection of childhood development. This series posits that regulation is not governmental overreach but the bare minimum required to protect a generation.

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Видео A child’s place is not on social media: Why Australia banned social media for under-16s канала The Urban Herald