Deakin experts comment on Australia's U16 social media ban

Deakin University experts are available for comment on Australia’s world-first social media ban for under 16-year-olds.

Media are welcome to contact the below listed experts directly or liaise with Deakin’s media team for support media@deakin.edu.au.

What is the ban? How will it be enforced? Is it a good idea?

Professor Julian Sefton-Green, School of Education at Deakin University, Centre for Research for Educational Impact, Chief Investigator at the ARC Centre for Excellence for the Digital Child.

Professor Sefton-Green is a member of the eSafety Commissioner’s advisory group exploring the implementation and outcomes of Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA) obligation.

- Social media age restrictions
- Young people and families’ use of digital technology in everyday life
- How data intervenes in family life
- Digital delivery of education

Email: julian.seftongreen@deakin.edu.au

Dr Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer in Communication at Deakin University School of Communication and Creative Arts, member of Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation.

- Background on Australia’s U16 social media ban, when it was legislated and why it is being implemented
- How the ban will be enforced and the effectiveness of the technology designed to enforce it
- Response of big tech companies such as Meta and Google to the ban
- Screentime and use of technology in the home by families

Email: luke.h@deakin.edu.au

Professor Kathryn Backholer, School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University, Professor of Public Health Policy, Co-Director of the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition, Institute for Health Transformation. Vice President of the Public Health Association of Australia.

- Public health impacts of digital environments
- Public health perspectives of the social media ban. While communications scholars are generally critical of the ban, arguing it can be circumvented, those in public health argue alcohol bans for U18-year-olds can also be circumvented but still serve an important purpose by changing social norms.
- Government public health policy making, including monitoring and evaluating proposed law changes and how laws can be amended.
- Adolescent digital marketing exposure and regulation. Professor Backholer is currently conducting a project that will evaluate the social media ban in terms of shifts in marketing content as well as health related outcomes, including social connection and young people’s access to health information online.
- Digital regulation for online spaces, primarily in relation to data collection and privacy related to online advertising

Email: kathryn.backholer@deakin.edu.au

Advice for families

Associate Professor Elizabeth Westrupp, School of Psychology at Deakin University. Associate Professor Westrupp is a children’s clinical psychologist.

- Parent advice for managing young people’s distress or opposition to the ban

Email: elizabeth.westrupp@deakin.edu.au

Social media risks

Dr Hannah Jarman, School of Psychology at Deakin University, Executive Dean of Health Research, Fellow at SEED Lifespan, Chair of the National Taskforce for Social Media, Body Image, & Eating Disorders, and co-founder of The.Wellbeing.Doctors on Instagram.

- Social media impacts on body image and eating disorders
- Body image in children and adolescents
- Prevention and early interventions for eating disorders
- Policies to mitigate social media harms
- Investigator in Connected Minds Study, a joint project with Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, monitoring the impact of the social media ban in 13 to 16-year-olds and their parents

Email: h.jarman@deakin.edu.au

Dr Lauren Arundell, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Deakin University, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at Deakin University, ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow.

- Impacts of screen use on children’s health and development outcomes including wellbeing, social skills, and family functioning.
- How children engage with screens and the challenges it can cause in the home setting
- Dr Arundell works with families, allied health, and education professionals to create strategies to help families manage screen time in the rapidly developing technology environment

Email: lauren.arundell@deakin.edu.au

Professor Andre Bonfrer, Professor of Marketing at Deakin Business School. Co-founder of Deakin’s MarTech Lab.

- Marketing and marketing technology
- Data and marketing analytics
- Retailing and branding
- Causal inference

Email: andre.bonfrer@deakin.edu.au

Associate Professor Jeff Rotman, Associate Professor of Marketing at Deakin Business School. Co-Director of Deakin’s Better Consumption Lab.

- The effect of social media on polarisation
- The effect of social media on mental health
- The underlying psychological mechanisms of how social media impacts polarisation and mental health

Email: jeff.rotman@deakin.edu.au

International approaches to youth and social media

Dr Andy Zhao, School of Education at Deakin University, Research Fellow in digital childhoods at Deakin’s Centre for Research in Educational Impact and the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child.

- Use of digital media amongst migrant and diaspora families and how to communicate the social media ban to these families
- Similar approaches in other countries and their outcomes
- Alternative social media platforms that young people may go to after the ban takes effect

Email: xinyu.zhao@deakin.edu.au

Families, children, technology and data privacy

Associate Professor Luci Pangrazio, School of Education at Deakin University, Research Fellow in digital literacies at Deakin’s Centre for Research in Educational Impact and Chief Investigator at the ARC Centre for Excellence for the Digital Child.

- Technology and children/ families
- Social media age restrictions
- Education technologies
- Digital literacies
- Data privacy

Email: luci.pangrazio@deakin.edu.au

Dr Sharon Horwood is a researcher in the SEED Centre for Lifespan Research in the School of Psychology, and an associate investigator at the ARC Centre for Excellence for the Digital Child. Her research focuses on the relationships between wellbeing and digital technology use, with a specific focus on child development.  

- Child development and it's associations with digital technology use
- Child and adolescent wellbeing factors associated with digital technology use
- Family and parental experiences in managing tech use
- Supporting families and young people to live healthy digital lives

Email: sharon.horwood@deakin.edu.au

Legal perspectives of Australia’s U16 social media ban

Associate Professor Maria O’Sullivan, Deakin Law School, Theme Lead in the Technology-based Harms Research Stream at Deakin’s Centre for Law as Protection and Member of Deakin Cyber Research and Innovation Centre.

- Human rights law including
- Childrens rights (the best interests of the child)
- The impact on the right to protest (as protests by young people are sometimes facilitates using social media)
- The impact on the right to public life/ political communication

Email: m.osullivan@deakin.edu.au

Dr Neerav Srivastava, Lecturer in law and technology at Deakin Law School.

- The proposed social media age restriction
- The law regulating access
- The legalities of the ban and its implementation
- The impact of online bullying on young people's health/ wellbeing

Email: n.srivastava@deakin.edu.au