SYDNEY: Australia is investigating Facebook, TikTok and YouTube for possible breaches of the country&#39;s under-16 social media ban, accusing the big tech companies on Tuesday of &quot;failing to obey&quot; the world-leading laws. Australia in December banned under-16s from a raft of the world&#39;s most popular social media sites, citing the need to protect young minds from &quot;predatory algorithms&quot; filled with sex and violence. Three months since the landmark laws came into effect, Australia&#39;s online safety watchdog found a &quot;substantial proportion of Australian children&quot; were still scrolling banned platforms. &quot;Australia&#39;s world-leading social media laws are not failing. But big tech is failing to obey the laws,&quot; Communications Minister Anika Wells told reporters. &quot;Australia will not let the social media giants take us for mugs.&quot; Australia&#39;s eSafety Commission flagged &quot;significant concerns&quot; about Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. &quot;None of this is impossible. None of this is even difficult for big tech, who are innovative billion-dollar companies,&quot; Wells said. &quot;If these companies want to do business in Australia, they must obey Australian laws.&quot; Australia would decide on any punishments by mid-2026. Tech companies face fines of up to $33.9 million (Aus$49.5 million) under the laws. More than five million accounts belonging to underage Australian users have been removed since the laws came into effect, the eSafety Commission said. A growing body of research suggests that too much time online is taking a toll on teen well-being. Australia&#39;s ban has been hailed as a godsend for parents sick of seeing children glued to their phones. It has also drawn interest across the globe -- with Malaysia, France, New Zealand and Indonesia among the nations now eyeing similar measures. Although social media companies have pledged to abide by the laws, they have warned that the measures could instead push teenagers into dark, unregulated corners of the internet. Prove itMeta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said accurately proving users&#39; ages had been &quot;a challenge for the whole industry&quot;. It told AFP it would &quot;keep investing in enforcement to detect and remove under-16 accounts&quot;. Image-sharing platform Snapchat told AFP it was &quot;fully committed to implementing reasonable steps under the legislation&quot; and had so far locked 450,000 accounts. TikTok said it had no comment, while inquiries on YouTube did not receive a reply. Social media companies bear the sole responsibility for checking that Australia-based users are 16 or older. They must prove they have taken &quot;reasonable steps&quot; to weed out young teenagers, although it remains unclear how this will be interpreted by the government. Some platforms have said they would use AI tools to estimate ages based on photos, while users could also choose to prove their age by uploading a government ID. Online discussion site Reddit has filed a legal challenge against Australia&#39;s ban, which it described as &quot;legally erroneous&quot;. The US-based company said there were serious privacy concerns associated with platforms verifying age, with the collection of personal data creating a risk of leaks or hacks. Reddit&#39;s challenge is yet to be heard in Australia&#39;s High Court.

This file photo shows the icons of different social media applications. (AFP/FILE)

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Three months since the landmark laws came into effect, Australia's online safety watchdog found a "substantial proportion of Australian children" were still scrolling banned platforms.


Australia investigates tech giants over social media ban breaches

Saima Ayub

Many adults believe that raising one&rsquo;s voice is a normal part of parenting, saying, &ldquo;Children don&rsquo;t listen otherwise.&rdquo; &nbsp;In homes and schools, shouting is often treated as a form of discipline. Yet shouting does not teach children to behave better; rather, it teaches them to be afraid, confused, or equally loud. As an educationist, I have seen this pattern repeated over the years and across classrooms. &nbsp; A raised voice may stop a child in the moment, but it never builds understanding.&nbsp; Silence after shouting is not obedience. It is an emotional shutdown.&nbsp; Research on child psychology and emotional regulation shows that children learn&nbsp;to manage their feelings by watching adults. When adults shout, children&rsquo;s stress hormones rise. The brain moves into survival mode, during which learning stops.&nbsp; The child may comply, but nothing is understood or remembered.&nbsp; Consider a common morning scene.&nbsp;A child is slow to get ready for school; his shoes are missing, and his breakfast is unfinished. Consequently, the parents&rsquo; voice rises with every minute. The child freezes, cries, or becomes stubborn, and by the time the child reaches school, he is already anxious.&nbsp; Teachers later complain that he is inattentive or aggressive, but the problem did not start in the classroom; it began at home, with raised voices.&nbsp; Neuroscience supports this observation. Research from Harvard&rsquo;s Center on the Developing Child shows that repeated exposure to stress &mdash; such as frequent shouting &mdash; can affect a child&rsquo;s developing brain, weakening the areas responsible for attention, memory, and emotional control.&nbsp; In simple words, shouting makes it harder for children to behave well in the future.&nbsp; Some people, however, argue that &ldquo;our parents shouted, and we turned out fine.&rdquo;&nbsp; This statement avoids an honest question: Did we truly turn out fine, or did we simply learn to hide fear and repeat the same behavior? Many adults admit they now struggle with anger, anxiety, or communication. These patterns often begin in childhood. In schools, the difference between loud authority and calm authority is clear.&nbsp; I recall a teacher who never raised her voice, even in a noisy classroom. She paused, stood still, and waited. Slowly, students noticed. Silence followed. Her calm was stronger than shouting. The children respected her not because they feared her, but because they trusted her.&nbsp; Another example comes from a parent who decided to change one habit: no shouting in the morning. Instead of repeated instructions, she created a simple routine chart with pictures. The first week was difficult. The second week was quieter. Within a month, her child became more independent.&nbsp; The parent did not lose control. She gained cooperation. Research on positive discipline confirms this.&nbsp; According to studies published in the Journal of Family Psychology, children raised with calm, consistent guidance show better self-control and fewer behavioral problems than those disciplined through yelling or threats. Calm discipline teaches responsibility, whereas loud discipline teaches fear.&nbsp; Raising your voice also damages the relationship between an adult and a child, as children may listen to a shouting adult but stop sharing their thoughts.&nbsp; They learn that mistakes bring anger, not guidance.&nbsp; Over time, this creates distance. Power should never be loud to be effective. True authority is quiet and steady. The same is true in parenting and teaching. A calm voice shows confidence. A raised voice shows loss of control. This does not mean children do not need boundaries. They do.&nbsp; But boundaries delivered calmly are clearer and stronger.&nbsp; &ldquo;We do not hit.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;We finish our homework before play.&rdquo;&nbsp; Short sentences, firm tone, no shouting. Children understand this language.&nbsp; Never raising your voice does not mean being weak.&nbsp;It means being aware. It means choosing long-term growth over short-term silence.&nbsp; Children are not broken machines to be fixed with noise. They are learning humans. When adults lower their voices, children learn to regulate theirs. When adults stay calm, children feel safe enough to listen.&nbsp; In the end, the goal is not quiet children. The goal is confident, emotionally healthy adults. And that lesson begins with a calm voice today.

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Children are not broken machines to be fixed with noise. They are learning humans. When adults lower their voices, children learn to regulate theirs. When adults stay calm, children feel safe enough to listen. 

Never raise your voice at your children

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: source-sans-pro, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: nowrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;" id="isPasted">PAPIRI:&nbsp;Parents of dozens of children kidnapped last week from a Catholic school in Nigeria are desperate for their release, with one father crying out that his son is so young he has not yet learned to speak. Armed gangs seized more than 300 children from a Catholic school in Nigeria&#39;s central-western Niger state, in a resurgence of the mass kidnappings that have long harrowed Africa&#39;s most populous country. The same week, 25 schoolgirls were taken from another school, and 38 worshippers were seized from a church in the east of the country. At least 50 taken from the Catholic school, St Mary&#39;s, managed to escape, but more than 265 children and teachers are still being held. &quot;My son is a small boy. He doesn&#39;t even know how to talk,&quot; Michael Ibrahim said as parents of those still in captivity anxiously awaited their children&#39;s safe release. His son, who is four, suffers from asthma, he said. &quot;We don&#39;t know the condition in which the boy is,&quot; said Ibrahim, adding that the abduction had so sickened his wife that she had to be taken to the hospital. Some of the children abducted are nursery-school age. &quot;I need my child back. I need my child back. If I had the power to bring my child back, I would do it,&quot; another father, Sunday Isaiku, told AFP. Nigeria has a history of mass kidnappings, mostly carried out by criminal gangs looking for ransom payments and targeting vulnerable populations in poorly policed rural areas. Many of the captives get freed or rescued within weeks or months, while some escape on their own. 42 incidents targeting students Nigeria&#39;s first high-profile mass kidnapping was that of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, when Islamist group Boko Haram forced 276 girls from their dormitories in the country&#39;s northeast. More than a decade later, about 90 of those girls are still missing. Nigeria suffers from a persistent security crisis fuelled by jihadist attacks and violence by &quot;bandit&quot; gangs that raid villages, kill people and kidnap for ransom. US President Donald Trump earlier this month threatened military action over what he described as the targeted killing of Nigeria&#39;s Christians -- a claim the Nigerian government rejects. The religiously diverse country of 230 million people is the scene of long-brewing conflicts that have killed both Christians and Muslims, often indiscriminately. Four days after the St Mary&#39;s children were taken, no group has claimed the abduction or contacted the school demanding ransom. &quot;At this moment, what we want is to get our 265 students and pupils back and I&#39;m calling on the federal government and the state government to join forces,&quot; Reverend Bulus Yohanna of Kontagora Catholic diocese told AFP. &quot;Please help us... to see them back&quot; and &quot;reunite with their parents&quot;. For Ibrahim, the government is his only hope of seeing his son again. &quot;We don&#39;t know any other way to bring these children if not through the government. I appeal to the government to do all within its powers to see their children are back,&quot; he said, speaking in the local Hausa language. Health worker Cidi Mohamed, 27, recalled hearing gunshots at the school on the night of the raid and then seeing the kidnappers leave with the children. &quot;They put the children at the front and the back&quot; of motorcycles, he said. Global conflict monitoring group ACLED has recorded 42 incidents of violence targeting students in Nigeria this year, a decline from 71 in 2024. About 40% of the abductions involved demands for ransom. &quot;Fragmented bandit groups and other armed actors are the most common perpetrators in these abduction or kidnappings, while Islamist groups are far less frequently responsible for targeted violence against students,&quot; said ACLED.

This handout photo taken by Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) of Niger state chapter and Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese on November 21, 2025 and distributed on November 22, 2025 shows relatives of a

Africa

In the past few weeks, armed gangs have seized dozens of children across Nigeria in a resurgence of the mass kidnappings that have long harrowed Africa's most populous country.

Parents of abducted Nigeria students plead for rescue

MELBOURNE: The Australian government has begun a public education campaign with tips on how to wean children off social media ahead of a world-first national 16-year age limit taking effect in December. Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Friday that information on her agency&#39;s website, esafety.gov.au, explained the new laws and how to navigate them. Starting December 10, platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube could be fined up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) if they don&rsquo;t take reasonable steps to prevent Australians younger than 16 from holding accounts. Messages raising awareness will also be shared starting Sunday across digital channels, television, radio and billboards. &lsquo;We want children to have childhoods&rsquo;&ldquo;We want children to have childhoods. We want parents to have peace of mind and we want young people &mdash; young Australians &mdash; to have three more years to learn who they are before platforms assume who they are,&rdquo; Communications Minister Anika Wells told reporters, referring to the current de facto 13-year age limit for social media accounts based on US privacy legislation. The Australian age restrictions have already proved polarizing, with some experts warning the changes will harm as well as protect children. More than 140 Australian and international academics signed an open letter to the government last year opposing a social media age limit as &ldquo;too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.&rdquo; Despite that warning, the laws passed with resounding support last year. The platforms had a year to figure out how to comply without foolproof technology available to verify ages. &lsquo;Very monumental event&rsquo;Inman Grant said the social media age restriction would be a &ldquo;very monumental event for a lot of young people.&rdquo; Her agency offered checklists and conversation starters about ways to make the transition, such as following an online influencer through a website rather than a social media account, she said. &ldquo;How do we start weaning them from social media now so it isn&rsquo;t a shock on Dec. 10? How do we help them download their archives and their memories and how do we make sure that they&rsquo;re in touch with friends and are aware of mental health support if they&rsquo;re feeling down when they&rsquo;re not tethered to their phones over the holiday period?&rdquo; she added. Australia&rsquo;s move is being watched closely by countries that share concerns about social media impacts on young children. &lsquo;A global challenge&rsquo;&nbsp;Denmark&rsquo;s Ambassador to Australia Ingrid Dahl-Madsen said her government would use its current presidency of the Council of the European Union to push the agenda of protecting children from social media harms. &ldquo;This is something that is a global challenge and we are all looking at how we can manage it best and we are looking to Australia and we will be looking at what Australia does,&rdquo; Dahl-Madsen told Australian Broadcasting Corp in Melbourne on Monday. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s so important that Australia and Demark and the EU &mdash; we share lessons, we compare experiences and we can push forward hopefully practical progress on this,&rdquo; she added. It was about &quot;protecting our children in this digital world that is increasingly complicated.&quot; The Danish government last week proposed legislating an age limit of 15. But Dahl-Madsen said Denmark would consider letting parents exempt their children who were 13-14.Australia has no similar exemption.

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Starting December 10, platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube could be fined up to $33 million if they do not take reasonable steps to prevent Australians younger than 16 from holding accounts.

Articles tagged with "children"

Australia investigates tech giants over social media ban breaches

Never raise your voice at your children

Parents of abducted Nigeria students plead for rescue

Australia begins education campaign ahead of social media curbs for children