Penetralia

Protecting children should be paramount in the objectives of Governments, Citizens and Social Media Platforms. Not only children but any user of those platforms and anyone who may be affected by the results of those platforms. But the government are deliberatley creating a false dichotomy so that their desires (Greater Surveillance) is the lesser of 2 evils (against child harm). The government's use of statistics points us toward their prefered option and I would like to think this is because the Government don't understand the statistics rather than they are purposely manipulating them.

The government state We found that the average age a child first saw porn was 13 years old a statistic they use in their argument to bring in Digital ID's to protect children. But you need to consider two things:

Is it the Internet?

This isn't necessarily due to Social Media or the Internet. Many people who grew up before the Internet was invented saw porn before this age. There are no statistics to say what age a child first saw porn in the 1960's but It was probably about the same.

This isn't the fix.

Age Gating internet services will not prevent children accessing porn. It may prevent them from using some forms of social media but they will find other, possibly more serious, ways to access it. Unscrupulous sources will not be trying to deter people from accessing their material, they will merely be trying to ensure they cannot be punished for doing so, ticking whatever boxes they need whilst still carrying on business as normal

Katie Maskiell, Head of Policy and Advocacy at UNICEF Australia reported that "nearly a quarter of Australian teens admit they frequently find ways to get around blocks that stop them from accessing certain sites or content. This shows the importance of creating safer digital platforms, instead of just restricting access".