Testimony

Helping Aussie Kids Swim Between the Flags Online

Jun 2024 🇦🇺 Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society (Parliament of Australia) Ages 14–17

Suicide and self-harm are complex and never caused by one factor alone. Problematic screen use, cyberbullying, harmful content, and online exploitation may increase risk or intensify existing distress. If someone is in immediate danger or emotional crisis in the United States, call or text 988.

Outside the U.S.? Find your local helpline at findahelpline.com.

This is eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant's edited opening statement to Australia's Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society, delivered as the committee opened its inquiry into social media's effects on the community. Grant argued for a layered approach — age verification, education, and platform accountability — rather than a single fix, using a water-safety analogy of flagged beaches and swimming lessons. She cited eSafety research finding that almost two-thirds of 14-to-17-year-olds had viewed extremely harmful content in the past year, including material related to drug abuse, suicide, or self-harm, plus violent content, and that more than a quarter saw content promoting unhealthy eating habits. She also noted that maturity and resilience, not age alone, shape how young people experience social media. TechKids Foundation includes this statement as Grant's own framing of the evidence behind Australia's subsequent social media age law.

~65% of 14–17-year-olds

eSafety research cited in the statement found almost two-thirds of 14-to-17-year-olds had viewed extremely harmful content in the prior year, including material related to drug abuse, suicide, or self-harm, and violent or gory content.

More than 1 in 4

The same research found more than a quarter of respondents in that age group had been exposed to content promoting unhealthy eating habits.

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CITATION

Inman Grant, Julie. "Helping Aussie Kids Swim Between the Flags Online." Opening statement to the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society, Parliament of Australia, June 21, 2024. Published by eSafety Commissioner. https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/blogs/helping-aussie-kids-swim-between-the-flags-online

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