Government releases new social media ban ad in $14m blitz ahead of December 10 prohibition

The federal government will spend $14m on a huge advertisement blitz ahead of the December 10 start of laws prohibiting teens from accessing social media platforms.

The blitz kicks off on Sunday with a new ad showing a young Aussies locked into their phones with a voiceover saying the laws will be “for the good of” the kids.

The ad will roll out across TV, radio, digital and on billboards from Sunday.

“These laws will not mean perfection, but they will mean a significant and meaningful difference,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said on Tuesday morning after meeting with students at the East Doncaster Secondary College in Melbourne.

“And they will spread cultural change across 13-16 year-olds in this country.

“Unfortunately, seven out of 10 young Aussies have seen things online that they shouldn’t have, that has done them harm.

“That stat is too horrifying to ignore and so we have acted.”

The legislation forces tech platforms to verify the age of their users and to refuse access to those below the age of 16.

On Monday, Ms Wells and eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant met with representatives from tech giants, including YouTube and TikTok, to discuss age verification tools and compliance.

“We (the government and the eSafety Commissioner) are in lock-step about this policy, both the imperatives behind it policy-wise, that I govern, and the regulation of it, that Julie Inman Grant, governs,” she said.

“I am confident they understand their obligations under Australian law and they will deliver upon their obligations,” Ms Wells said on Tuesday.

If tech companies fail to comply, they could be hit with fines up to $49.5 million.

The ban ropes in a number of high-profile platforms including X, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat.

It follows a concerted push from psychologists and parents’ groups concerned about the impacts of social media on childhood development.

At a hearing last year before the passage of the laws, Australian Parents Council vice-president Karen Robertson said “swift and meaningful” reform was needed to give children a “life beyond screens”.

“We’ve lost the power to parent,” she said.

“Tech companies now own our children.”

Ms Wells said there was a “sense of gratitude” from most of the students she met with about the looming ban.

“I think the gratitude is that this law applies to everybody and that everybody will face the same cultural expectation that kids are not to be online on a social media account between the ages 13 and 16,” she said.

She added platforms were obliged to prepare for the December 10 D-Day and to notify teens that their accounts may soon be deactivated.

“My expectation is those things happen in the run up to December 10, not after December 10,” she said.