'It's Covid all over again': Labor bending at the knee to eSafety Commissioner's advice on YouTube ban while turning blind eye to our freedom, education
A government that feels something must be done on a controversial topic is likely to act so boldly and so quickly that they don't have time to consider the consequences, and those who suffer are left to pick up the pieces.
The popular thing to do these days is find an expert on an issue and outsource all responsibility on policy to them.
Trusting an expert sounds nice - they know a lot and often have a reassuring 'Dr' at the start of their name.
It's never the case that this expert is democratically elected or answerable to the people that their decisions affect.
They are there for the government to hide behind - don't look at us, we had to do whatever the expert told us to.
This was all the rage during Covid.
Various state governments' preferred experts would recommend all sorts of bizarre restrictions - shutting South Australia down over a pizza box, for instance - but the government could tell their voters they were taking the issue seriously, because they were listening to the experts.
I thought after Australians were told not to touch a football if it came into the stands of the Adelaide Oval that Australians were done stomaching the idea that we should listen solely to the experts.
But Labor's talking points over the social media ban - especially its backflip on an exemption for YouTube - is a test for my theory.
Social media use in teenagers is an area the government really wants to be seen as 'doing something'.
It's a hot topic and for good reason.
Mental health in teenagers, particularly among girls, has nosedived since smartphones and social media became widespread.
Parents feel helpless.
They know that social media will hurt their child, but also know depriving them of social media when all of their friends have them harms them as well.
The government has jumped on this and come up with their social media ban.
They also found their expert and outsourced responsibility to her.
Enter the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.
The level of deferral from the government to this public servant is galling.
In Question Time on Wednesday, Minister Anika Wells referenced the commissioner four times in her one answer about the social media ban - including saying she 'was required by the law to seek advice from the eSafety Commissioner on the draft rules, and the eSafety Commissioner's advice was clear'.
That's all well and good - but the Australian people did not elect the eSafety commissioner.
They elected Anika Wells, and they elected her to do far more than ask Julie Inman Grant what to do then listen politely.
The eSafety Commssioner's duty according to the government is to ensure Australians 'have safer, more positive online experiences.'
But that is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to forming policy about the online world.
Safety must be balanced with freedom, educational possibilities, economic concerns and a whole raft of other factors.
We'd all be free of harm from social media if we never went on the internet again - but we'd also lose all of the wonderful benefits it gives us too.
It's Covid all over again.
Then governments outsourced responsibility to Chief Health Officers whose primary concern was safety and stopping the spread of the virus - because that was their area of expertise.
Other concerns like students' education, mental wellbeing, individual freedom and the economy - issues that should have been considered with the same seriousness as the virus itself - were swept aside in the narrow view of stopping the spread.
And now other factors are being swept aside in the narrow view the government and the eSafety Commissioner are taking when it comes to social media, and particularly YouTube.
The government this week reversed its commitment to exempt YouTube from their social media ban for people under the age of 16.
The problem with that is that YouTube does not behave in the same way as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook or the other social media networking sites.
Those latter sites rely on users sharing information with each other, such as photos and updates.
Teenagers spend hours cultivating their profiles to make their lives look idyllic, and spend further hours seeing the photos and lifestyles of people they know look even more idyllic - a vicious cycle that harms mental health.
YouTube does not act like that. There is not as much person-to-person sharing as there are in the other social media networks.
People watch videos and move on to other videos.
In fact a survey released by the eSafety Commission itself found that YouTube is one of the safest social media websites for teenagers in terms of the risk of grooming, sexual harassment and bullying.
Teenagers are more likely to be targeted over text message than over YouTube.
The 'safety' concerns around YouTube are less about bullying and comparative lifestyles and more about what content is popular on YouTube, such as conservative opinions.
Julie Inman Grant told the National Press Club this year that she was concerned YouTube's 'opaque algorithms' were 'driving users down rabbit holes they're powerless to fight against'.
That's a whole different reason for enforcing safety and completely removed from the original conversation around protecting children online.
But it's not unexpected considering the eSafety Commissioner's remit is to ensure online safety.
It's up to the government to balance the desire for safety with other effects a ban on YouTube would have - especially education.
Oxford Economics this year found that 72 per cent of parents agree that YouTube helps their children learn and 79 per cent of parents agree YouTube provides quality content for their children's learning.
In an interview on Sky News this week, YouTube personality Leo Pugilsi said his teachers upload videos of themselves explaining what was discussed in school to help children out with homework.
This is what the government is impacting when it listens solely to the eSafety Commissioner.
An unforgivable sin from Covid was our governments letting experts tell them the education of children was a secondary concern.
By listening solely to the eSafety Commissioner and ignoring the educational benefits of YouTube, Labor is making the same mistake again - all in the name of "doing something".
James Bolt is a Sky News Australia contributor.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Nova Peris can't be cancelled, despite anti-Islam posts
Members beware Barely recovered from their crushing federal election defeat, the NSW Liberals are already looking forward to their next date with the voters. Last week, the division opened, and then promptly closed, candidate nominations for the 2027 state election. Aspiring state MPs hoping to join Mark Speakman's (or his successor's) opposition had just a few days to get their paperwork in order. Given the party's recent history of having preselections delayed until the 11th hour by juvenile, arcane factional disputes, getting the nominations in early is probably wise. But the tight deadline caught a few in the party off-guard, given just how much of Sydney's posher locales are still enjoying Europe's summer. One person not caught by the quick turnaround for nominations was former federal MP Jenny Ware, who lost the once-safe southern Sydney seat of Hughes to Labor's David Moncrieff in the May election in a result few insiders saw coming. Nevertheless, Ware wants another crack at elected office, and we hear is challenging Miranda MP Eleni Petinos for preselection. Petinos has a bit of baggage of her own. She was dumped from the ministry by then-premier Dom Perrottet after allegations she bullied her staff. Not to mention the finest piece of Petinos lore – the time she chundered in the back of former deputy premier John Barilaro's ministerial chauffeur-driven car on the way back from State of Origin in 2017, an incident known as 'barf-gate'. Ware didn't exactly set the backbench alight during her one term in Canberra. But that means she comes with mercifully less baggage than Petinos, which might give the good preselectors of the Sutherland Shire reason to move on. Wedding bells in Woollahra It's a big CBD congratulations to Woollahra Mayor Sarah Swan, who tied the knot with her partner Andrew Dixson at All Saints' Woollahra on Saturday. Before succeeding former Liberal state director Richard Shields (who was booted from that job after failing to nominate candidates in last year's local government elections), Swan was better known to readers of this masthead as one of the lawyers for eastern suburbs hairdresser Anthony Koletti. Koletti, in turn, was better known to the general public as the husband of fraudster Melissa Caddick. He was back in the news last week after being charged with assaulting an elderly woman in Vaucluse. No word, however, on whether Koletti showed up. Or whether the hairdresser, rumoured to have given the occasional blow dry on the house, did Swan's hair. Balling out Netball's plan for world domination was on the agenda during a long lunch at Melbourne Park's Centrepiece on Saturday, before the Super Netball grand final at adjacent Rod Laver Arena. Among the 800 guests were Bridget McKenzi e, Nationals senator and demon netballer, and actor Leah Purcell, who once got physical on the court with Australian netball great Vicky Wilson and hasn't let anyone forget it. Purcell is working on a teen TV drama about a group of girls gunning for the state championships, strategically timed to coincide with the 2027 World Cup in Australia. Speaking of strategic, also in the room was the Brisbane 2032 executive Brendan Keane. Netball Australia chair Liz Ellis made no secret of the sport's Big Ambition, to get netty into the Olympics. 'We will push hard for Olympic inclusion,' Ellis said, urging everyone in the room to pledge their support for the cause. (McKenzie obliged.)
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Labor told 'implied carbon prices', fixing broken renewables approvals key to lowering emissions in Productivity Commission report
A new report from the Productivity Commission has called on Labor to introduce reforms which would produce a similar effect to an "enduring, national carbon price". The interim report, titled: "Investing in cheaper, cleaner energy and the net zero transformation", is part of a series requested by Treasurer Jim Chalmers ahead of the Albanese government's economic roundtable. In it, the Productivity Commission warns the government must move to address "the gaps and overlaps in emissions reduction incentives, speed up approvals for clean energy infrastructure, and create a resilience-rating system for all housing to meet our clean energy targets and adapt to climate change". By doing so, the report says Labor will be able to both lower the cost of cutting emissions, while also maximising the opportunities presented by the energy transition to boost the economy. The Commission places heavy emphasis on a market-based approach, arguing both the Renewable Energy Target and the Capacity Investment Scheme, both central to Labor's net zero agenda, be scrapped in favour of direct incentives in the electricity sector. It also calls for the creation of a new independent agency which would determine a set of "carbon values" against which all emissions reduction policies would be assessed. The agency would set "carbon values" based on the "implied carbon prices" needed to meet Australia's emissions. By doing so, the Commission argues Australia could meet its internationally agreed climate targets at the lowest possible cost. "Our recommendations align with many of the benefits conferred by a broad-based, enduring, national carbon price – a policy that many, including the PC, have consistently argued for," the report said. In addition to factoring in the price of carbon while assessing emissions reduction plans, the report also calls for major reforms to the approval process for renewables projects. "We need to build a large amount of clean energy infrastructure to meet climate targets and ensure reliable and affordable energy supply. But our sluggish and uncertain approval processes are not up to the task," Commissioner Martin Stokie said. "Getting to yes or no quicker on priority projects would meaningfully speed up the clean energy transition." The Commission argues for substantive changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, including the introduction of national environmental standards, improved regional planning and clear rules about engaging with local communities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It also recommends the appointment of an independent Clean Energy Coordinator-General to work across government and break through roadblocks, as well as the creation of a "strike team" to rapidly asses priority projects. Other recommendations included in the report include an increase to the number of facilities covered by Labor's emissions reduction program for industry, the Safeguard Mechanism, and the abolishment of a fringe benefits tax exemption for electric vehicles.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Labor to make pivotal $10 billion frigate decision with outcome set to impact ties with critical Australian ally
The Albanese government is reportedly set to make its most consequential defence acquisition since coming to office as it weighs two bids to build new frigates for Australia's navy. According to The Australian, Labor is days away from deciding whether Japan's upgraded Mogami frigate or Germany's Meko-A200 will become the navy's new $10 billion general purpose frigate. As well as determining the composition and capabilities of the navy for decades to come, the decision will also likely impact relations with Japan - a critical ally. Catch up with all of the day's breaking news and live interviews from politicians and experts with a Streaming Subscription.
