SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia has launched a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign that depicts its world-first ban on social media for teenagers as “for the good of our kids” ahead of its December start date.
The A$14 million ($9.05 million) campaign, titled “For The Good Of”, will roll out across TV, billboards, and “ironically” social media starting Sunday, Communications Minister Anika Wells said on Tuesday.
Wells said the campaign aims to spread awareness about the changes coming for families, encouraging parents to “start having conversations” about the ban with their children.
“It’s called For The Good Of, and it means for the good of our kids. We’re doing these things, ultimately, for the good of young people in Australia,” she told reporters.
The 45-second video shows a number of children absorbed in their phones while a voiceover says: “For the good of Kirsty, for the good of Lucy and Anya, for the good of Sam, for the good of Holly, for the good of Noah, for the good of their wellbeing.”
It then adds: “From December 10, people under the age of 16 will no longer have access to social media accounts. It’s part of a new law to keep under-16s safer online.”
Australia’s ban was passed into law in November 2024 and aims to delay teens’ ability to set up social media accounts from the current age of 13 until the age of 16.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left government said research showed the over-use of social media was harming young teens, including causing misinformation, enabling bullying and harmful depictions of body image.
Governments around the world are closely watching Australia’s implementation of the ban, while social media platforms have pushed back on it.
In a parliamentary hearing on Monday, YouTube said the programme could have “unintended consequences” and would be “extremely difficult” to enforce. The Alphabet-owned video-sharing site has also flagged taking legal action against its inclusion in the ban.
Wells, the communications minister, said she was meeting with social media platforms this week, including Meta, TikTok and Snapchat, to “re-enforce the government’s expectation about how they will enforce the law”.
“I am confident they understand their obligations under Australian law and they will deliver upon their obligations,” she said.
($1 = 1.5477 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney)
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