Australia’s teen social media ban is a flop. But there’s no joy in ‘I told you so’ | Samantha Floreani

Around seven in 10 children remain on major platforms. Who could possibly have predicted that this wasn’t going to work? Well, lots of people Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast This week, it was revealed that despite the Australian government’s world-first teen social media ban, around seven in 10 children remain on major platforms. What’s more, the eSafety report also shows that there has been no notable change in cyberbullying or image-based abuse reported by children. For a policy that was touted as the solution to keeping kids safe from harm online, this is a damning indictment of the ban’s effectiveness. Who could possibly have predicted that this wasn’t going to work? Well, lots of people. Countless experts were ignored, including those in the fields of digital wellbeing, digital rights advocacy, youth mental health and more than 140 academics and 20 Australian civil society organisations. Even the eSafety commissioner herself had doubts, and internally the government was aware of a lack of evidence to support the ban before they passed the legislation anyway. I’ve written in the past