Subjects: The Coalition’s plan to protect children from online harm; 36 months campaign.
E&OE.
NATALIE BARR:
Well, the push to raise the minimum age for social media has received a major boost this morning. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has declared he will make it happen within the first 100 days of a future Coalition Government. Mr Dutton is promising to roll out an age verification system across the country making the minimum age for platforms like Facebook and Instagram, 16.
Peter Dutton joins me now. Good morning to you.
PETER DUTTON:
‘Morning Nat.
NATALIE BARR:
Tell us how your system would work.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think it’s best to look at it from a parents perspective, and parents want some rules in place. I think we say to people who are really having a tough conversation with their kids at the moment; that it’s going to be easier if we have a law that says, in the conversation when you’re talking to your kids, that you can’t be on those platforms until you’re 16, that’s the law. You can’t drive a car until you get your licence, that’s the law. You’d love to drive a car beforehand.
I just think given the exposure that we see young kids get now online, it’s a huge and confronting world out there. We see an increase in the number of self-harms, young girls who are suffering from eating disorders, image issues, etc. etc. A lot of that constant stream has a negative impact, and I think this is a sensible measure. There’s a lot of technology in place to help with the age verification that’s not going to take people’s data, etc… So I think it’s a well balanced approach.
NATALIE BARR:
Yeah, there’s a lot of technology out there, but it sounds like around the world it’s just not working. In France, they’ve tried it with pornography sites, there are legal challenges. In Germany, they’ve had difficulty enforcing it. In the US, they tried it in several states and there was a 1,000 per cent increase in VPNs, which they’re using to bypass it.
PETER DUTTON:
Sure.
NATALIE BARR:
So which system do you think would work here? That you would actually get up and running?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Nat, the first thing is I think if there was a book with all of that graphic content, all of that pornographic content, and it was sitting on the coffee table at home, you wouldn’t allow your 13 year old to start flicking the pages and going through it. So, I think we have to act like a mature society, we have to call out the companies. These challenges are mounted by the companies because the companies are only interested in profit and the number of subscribers, etc…
I think that we have a huge capacity here within our system, the technology is much better than it was five years ago, facial recognition to determine somebody’s age is appropriate. You can talk to the providers, as well as Apple and others who are with the hardware.
So, I think there are a number of ways in which we can do it. Is it perfect? No. But is there an option to do nothing? I just don’t think that is a responsible course of action.
NATALIE BARR:
Look, it sounds great. I think every parent around the country will be nodding because it’s so frustrating and it’s awful. But you’ve got Elon Musk laughing at the Prime Minister, you’ve got people arguing that we should be having beheadings on social media, and they’re still on there. They’re not being taken off. Why would they listen to you? Tell us what evidence you’ve got, because this is not being worked out around the world. No one has got it up and running.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Nat, I think the basic principle that we approach it with is to say that we want the same rules and the same laws that apply in real life to apply online.
I just don’t think it’s good enough for us to say that we’ve got a massive spike in the number of mental health instances. These companies need to be pressured, and if we do nothing, the red lines continue to be crossed.
So I think we can work with the technology companies, we can work through the tax system or whatever is required to budge these companies into an outcome.
I was talking to Wippa and Fitzy yesterday, they’ve got almost 100,000 signatures on their web page – their 36 month campaign – people should sign that petition because I think it sends a clear message, and I hope that this is an issue where the Prime Minister and I can work together, and if we show that bipartisanship, I think it sends a very clear message to the companies as well that we’re serious about this.
NATALIE BARR:
So, you’re supporting his $6.5 million trial?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I support the investment that they’ve made, but they’ve excluded social media companies from the trial, which is just bizarre? And that’s exactly the target that we’ve got in mind.
NATALIE BARR:
Okay. Thank you very much for joining us Peter Dutton.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks Nat. Thank you.
[ends]