Social Media, Communities, & Networks Conference 2026: Semester 1 & SP1

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2 responses to “How Australian youth took to TikTok to discuss the under 16 social media ban – Brooke Seward”

1. 

   effie

   30/04/2026

   You have a great way of presenting that even the most attention-deficient person can listen to for a straight 10 minutes. Thank you!

   I am a strong advocate for the use of social media among youth. Because the internet raises these generations. Stripping them off the internet because they should go out more in real life to play ball is such a pessimistic mindset that still clings to cultures that have already passed. It is a fact: Gen Z and Alpha are raised in a different era; you cannot force them to be like millennials!

   I appreciate that you brought up how young people are also generating income from these platforms. Imagine losing years of hard work because the government groups you into one container of young people who misuse social media. Social media bans are also slowly spreading in Malaysia, so your presentation was very fruitful in arguing against them.

   Not to mention, they don’t even work 100% to keep children away from social media use altogether. As you mentioned, using older relatives to bypass ID verification, parents still letting their children use them, and, instead of banning the application itself, instead, banning social media accounts, have become low-effort ways to show civilians that the government has done its work. Some parents (you said 66%) are showing they are not supportive of this, yet the administration is patting itself on the back for its effort.

   Just look at the collection of apps they ban anyway. As a young user myself, it is a joke that Discord, Twitch, and Roblox aren’t banned. Those apps are the biggest predatory scenes across all social media combined, but, of course, TikTok is the worst!! you can *walk* around discord finding predators in mere seconds. I wonder whether those who support the ban actually understand the youth.

   Now that all my venting is out of the way (lol), I do have questions for your presentation. I would also like to know your personal opinion on anything I have mentioned earlier!

   1. Your argument that social media is an extension of everyday life resonates with the idea that Gen Z and Alpha are ‘digital natives.’ Critics of the ban often argue that the government is trying to force a millennial or boomer social model (like ‘playing basketball outside’) onto a generation that lives in a hybrid digital-physical reality. Do you think this policy is a failure of the government to understand the ontological shift in how youth experience the world? Is it even possible to ‘return’ to a pre-digital social structure?

   2. Traditional culture clings to the idea that ‘real life’ is safer than ‘online life.’ However, for many marginalised youth, the internet is where they find their primary support network. Does stripping them of the internet cause more harm than good by removing their safe space? Is the government prioritising physical safety at the total expense of ‘digital well-being’?

   3. Inevitably, Social media bans would only encourage migration to different apps. Do you think these underground migrations to other apps (like Discord, Rednote or Telegram) only come to prove the reality that youth culture blinds governments? Was this miscalculated or intentional? If intentional, who are the bans actually for?

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2. 

   Asli Keskin

   08/05/2026

   Hi Brooke,

   I thoroughly enjoyed watching your presentation. You have a lovely speaking voice and maintain a great flow throughout the presentation. I also think your sources were very well suited to the topic you chose, as your findings suggest a significant disconnect between government policies and the lived realities of young people. This leads me to my first question:

   1. Your presentation highlights that many young people were able to bypass the restrictions relatively easily and that a majority of parents still permitted social media use. To what extent do you think this reveals a disconnect between government policy and the lived realities of digital culture among youth? Could the ban itself unintentionally strengthen youth resistance or encourage more hidden and unregulated online behaviour?

   I found this especially interesting because the ban seems difficult to enforce in practice, and in some ways it may push young people further away from safe, open conversations about their online experiences.

   2. You discuss how TikTok’s affordances, such as hashtags and short-form video content, allow youth to mobilise against the ban and maintain community connections. Do you think these same affordances also contribute to the risks that motivated the ban in the first place, such as misinformation, harmful trends, or algorithmic overexposure? How do we reconcile TikTok’s role as both a space of empowerment and potential harm?

   This was particularly interesting to me because your presentation demonstrates that social media platforms are not inherently positive or negative, but rather complex digital spaces that can simultaneously foster connection, creativity, and support while also amplifying risk and vulnerability among young users.

   3. You mention that some young people rely on social media platforms for creative work and income opportunities. I’m interested in whether you see the ban as disproportionately affecting certain groups of youth more than others, particularly aspiring influencers, small business owners, or marginalised young people who use online spaces for identity and community formation. Did your research uncover any inequalities in how the ban impacts different types of users?

   I think social media today functions as far more than entertainment for many young people. For some, these platforms provide financial opportunities, creative expression, and access to communities they may struggle to find offline, making the effects of the ban potentially uneven across different groups of youth.

   I’m very curious to hear your responses and look forward to hearing from you at the conference.

   Kind regards,
   Asli

   Reply