Guernsey group backs Australia-style teen social media ban

A group campaigning for smartphone-free schools has said it hopes Guernsey follows Australia's social media ban for children aged under 16.

Australia's new laws mean social media firms including Meta, TikTok and YouTube must take "reasonable steps" to ensure under-16s do not hold accounts on their platforms.

Emma Lawlor, from Smartphone Free Childhood Guernsey, said the bailiwick was in a good position to mirror the country.

The States of Guernsey said it was "closely monitoring developments" in other jurisdictions, including Denmark and Norway, which were "considering similar measures".

Ms Lawlor said Guernsey was "in a really unique position" and it had "a great opportunity to take some big steps really quickly".

She said: "We've got a really proactive forward-thinking government at the moment, we've got a public health service that are really aware of the benefits of putting the support into preventative medicine.

"We're very uniquely positioned to be able to make a change and to benefit our kids quickly."

Feedback on Australia's ban has been mixed, with some in favour but others argue young people will still find a way to use social media.

One 14-year-old Australian said it was "insulting" its government thought "we can't handle it".

Ms Lawlor said the online world was detrimental to children everywhere.

"Every day we delay in doing something, more kids are being harmed by the things that they're seeing on social media," she said.

Committee for Home Affairs deputy Marc Leadbeater said it would follow the UK, which has brought in the Online Safety Act.

"Given our close relationship with the UK, our immediate priority is to consider how the protections set out in the Online Safety Act will be implemented," he said.

"We recognise that this is a complex process, and the first step has been the inclusion of a Permissive Extent Clause."

The clause in UK legislation allows certain parts of the law to be extended to crown dependencies.

Deputy Leadbeater said: "Work is now under way to assess how the act might be extended to the bailiwick, ensuring that our community can benefit from the same safeguards."

He said an exercise was also under way to "highlight existing initiatives that promote digital safety and to identify further opportunities for strengthening protections".

"Protecting young and vulnerable people online is a global challenge," he said.