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Australia bans social media for teens under 16, sparking debate. Prime Minister says it protects children from phone addiction and harmful content. Tech companies face huge fines for non-compliance. Will other countries follow? #SocialMediaBan #Australia #Teenagers #TechRegulation #DigitalSafety
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0:00
While parents and teens won't be
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punished for breaking the ban, tech
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companies could be fined up to $32
0:06
million for breaches. Speaking in Sydney
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this morning, Australia's Prime Minister
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Anthony Albani said the country is
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paving the way forward with the ban.
0:15
The global community who are looking at
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Australia and saying, well, if Australia
0:20
can do it, why can't we?
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This will make an enormous difference.
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It is one of the biggest social and
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cultural changes that our nation has
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faced. It's a profound reform which will
0:35
continue to reverberate around the world
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in coming months to assist not just this
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generation but generations to come.
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Now for more, Phil Mercer joins us live
0:47
from Sydney. Phil, Prime Minister there
0:49
very bullish on the ban. What else did
0:51
he say?
0:53
Anthony Albanzy says that this will
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change the lives of Australian children,
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essentially giving them their childhood
0:59
back. And he was suggesting that as
1:01
school holidays begin for millions of
1:03
Australian children, that um they should
1:05
go off and stop scrolling and learn a
1:08
language or learn to play a new
1:10
instrument. But there are many teenagers
1:12
around this country who are marking this
1:15
day with a great deal of anger and
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sadness. and uh many we understand are
1:20
trying to circumvent the regulations by
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migrating to those platforms that aren't
1:25
covered initially by the ban. But the
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Australian government is firmly of the
1:30
view that this radical view will protect
1:33
children from um phone addiction and
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also from harmful content online. But as
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you say um this is an extremely divisive
1:43
issue. parents and charities hailing
1:47
this measure along with the government,
1:49
but tech companies and many many
1:51
teenagers have a very different view.
1:53
Yeah. And Phil, the punishments for this
1:56
ban won't affect the teenagers
1:58
themselves, but will be targeted more at
2:00
tech companies. Uh tell us how that
2:02
could work.
2:04
This van is really built around the fact
2:06
that the government says that um the
2:09
forms involved including Tik Tok,
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Instagram and Facebook and seven others
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must take reasonable steps to make sure
2:17
that from today teenagers under the age
2:20
of 16 in this country can no longer set
2:24
up new account and that existing
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accounts have to be deactivated. If they
2:30
transgress those tech companies, they
2:32
could face fines up to $32 million.
2:36
Um, some charities say that um the tech
2:39
companies um may not take their
2:41
responsibilities seriously, but from the
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ones we've heard from, the tech
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companies say that they don't like it,
2:46
but they will comply. So, this is in the
2:49
eyes of the Australian prime minister
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one of the great social reforms that
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Australia has seen in recent times. And
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there could well be a ripple effect.
2:59
Other countries, we know Denmark and
3:00
Malaysia and New Zealand, for example,
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looking at Australia's experience and
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deciding perhaps in the future this
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could be for them as well. So
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Australia's radical move could be
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replicated elsewhere.
3:13
Yeah, we'll have to wait and see on
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that. Thanks very much, Phil. film
3:15
master. They're live in Sydney Forest.
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