The Hon. David Coleman MP
Shadow Minister for Communications
Federal Member for Banks
7 November 2024
Subject: 36 Months Campaign Age Limit of 16 for Social Media
E&OE…
David Coleman: Look, can I just say at the outset, to thank the 36 Months Campaign. It’s been an incredible campaign and it has harnessed the deep concern in the Australian community about this issue, this is one of the defining issues of out era. This is a totemic issue for Australian families, and Rob and Wippa and everyone who’s been involved in 36 Months deserves the highest of accolades because this is a really big deal. I also want to say, to Liv and Charlotte’s parents to be here today, I think it’s very hard for any of us to imagine what they are going through. And for them to speak out in such strength on this issue is incredibly admirable. And we can only thank them for the power of their advocacy. We welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement today that the Government will legislate for a minimum age of 16. It’s the right thing to do and it’s something that Peter Dutton committed to back in June, so we welcome that today. We want to make sure that the legislation is strong and there aren’t loopholes and this really protects Australian kids and captures those platforms that we are also concerned about. We don’t think TikTok can ever be made safe for children. We do not think that Snapchat can ever be made safe for children, and we do not think that Instagram can be made safe for children. So we want to ensure that the legislation is strong, that there aren’t loopholes, and we look forward to working with the Government on that. We would like to see not only the legislation introduced this year, we would like to see the legislation pass the Parliament this year, and we will work constructively with the Government to do that. This is an issue which we believe is urgent. It’s an issue about which there has been debate for a long time, and so we’d like to see in those final two sitting weeks legislation passed through the House and the Senate. We will help to facilitate that and we want to ensure that the legislation is strong and captures all those key platforms. But thank you again to 36 Months and to everyone who’s advocated so strongly on this issue.
Journalist: You said that you want the legislation passed in the next couple of weeks. The age assurance trial, I don’t think has even started yet. Wouldn’t it be quite bizarre to legislate without even knowing if [inaudible] can physically enforce this ban? And I guess related to that, what sort of process do you think [inaudible] having to accept their face being scanned. Government documents being made available to these companies to verify those [inaudible]…
David Coleman: This can be done, and there’s a lot of evidence of that. So Meta does this in some circumstances now, when it suits them, and they say that in those circumstances it’s 97% effective. So as we’ve always said from the start, it won’t be 100% effective, but that’s the case with pretty much every form of regulation that we that we put in place. In terms of the trial, we’ve obviously been quite critical of that in the past, but I think we are where we are today and where we are today is the Government has said that they support the age of 16. Today is the first day they’ve said that, that’s very welcome. They’ve said that they’re going to introduce legislation. That’s welcome. We say, don’t only introduce the legislation, let’s get it through the parliament. A lot of people have been waiting a long time for this and there is an opportunity in a bipartisan fashion to get this done. And that’s what Peter Dutton wants to do. That’s what I want to do. We want to make sure the legislation is strong. We will of course will review it with the Government, we’d would welcome the opportunity to review any early drafts that the Government might have. But this is not an issue that should be partisan in any way. This is an issue that keeps families literally awake at night. This is an issue that I believe in the worst of circumstances has led to the death of Australian children. And what’s more important than that. So let’s get a draft of the legislation. Let’s make sure it’s strong. Let’s make sure there’s no outs for TikTok or Instagram or Snapchat and let’s get it done. And we can facilitate that through the parliament.
Journalist: What do you make of the 12-month implementation period and what that says about the lack of measures we have to enforce this?
David Coleman: As I said, I’m confident that this can be enforced, and it won’t be perfect, but it will be infinitely better than what we have now, because what we have now is a situation where the digital platforms are not required to do anything about age verification. So if you’re eight years old and you say you’re 25 on TikTok today, that’s okay. That is an outrageous situation. We would never allow that in relation to any other form of media, and yet we do with social media where the impacts are infinitely worse and the impacts from traditional media. So absolutely, it can be done. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be put in place. And we don’t want to lose much more time on this, we want to get this done. The gravity of this issue is so high that we will facilitate making this the top legislative priority to get this through the parliament in those final two sitting weeks. And we really want to work with the Government.
Journalist: How confident are you that a company like X, for example, with Elon Musk in charge, will actually abide by these rules.
David Coleman: Well, sovereignty resides with the people, not the tech platforms. And if they don’t want to follow the law of Australia then they shouldn’t be in Australia. So the Parliament has the right to legislate for Australian law. There’s a very clear power in the constitution under the telecommunications power to legislate in this area. That’s what we need to do. And the fact that, someone might say, oh well I don’t like this, too bad. If you want to market your products to Australians, you apply, you follow the law of Australia. It’s not optional. And so that’s what we’d like to see happen.
Journalist: You’re standing in front of people that have been calling for this for some time, people who have lost love ones. Why hasn’t this work already been done by the people in this place?
David Coleman: Look, I don’t think today is a day for partisan criticism. I think today is a day for saying let’s get this done. We welcome the fact that the prime minister has today said that he supports the age of 16. We’ve obviously been saying that for a long time now. We have an opportunity to put through a piece of legislation which could be, will be a very good thing for the country. And so we have a responsibility, all of us, to work together to make that happen. Our main concern with what we’ve heard today and in recent days is around exemptions. We don’t want to see a scenario where those major digital platforms can be exempted. We do not think that with a tweak here or a change there, you can make TikTok safe for kids. That applies to products like Instagram, Snapchat as well. So let’s get the legislation. Let’s work through it constructively and let’s get it done. And that’s what Peter Dutton wants to do. We have seen this from the start as an issue that should be bipartisan and above the fray, so to speak. You’ve seen through the extraordinary efforts of the 36 Months Campaign, and the literally more than 100,000 Australians that got behind that campaign and have really signed up to the moral clarity of this issue and of this campaign, which is that we’re not going to take this anymore. We’re not going to accept the situation where Meta gets to decide how they protect kids. They’ve had a long time to do it. They haven’t done it. That era is over. That’s what the 36 Months Campaign wants to see. That’s what millions of Australians want to see. That’s what we want to see. And we look forward to reviewing the legislation and facilitating passage through the Parliament.
Journalist: A co-operative approach hasn’t worked in the past. Is it just our Government saying this is too big for us, we need to put it on them? Are we going to get anywhere? Is this just symbolic? Is this just chat?
David Coleman: No, I think it is a very significant issue. And as I said, you don’t get to choose whether you follow the law of Australia. If you want to sell products in Australia, if you want to make money from Australia, you need to follow the law of Australia. There’s a very clear power in the constitution to address this issue. And I should note as well, the really strong support that we’ve acknowledged in the past from Chris Minns and Premier Malinauskas, both of which who I think have had the best of motivations in pursuing this issue and throwing their State support behind us, it’s a very good thing. But yeah, this can be done and if platforms want to say they don’t like it, too bad because sovereignty applies through the people, not through the tech platforms.
Journalist: Are you comfortable with the Government’s approach? Michelle Rowland said that essentially, you’ve got the platform to demonstrate that they are taking steps to verify age [inaudible].
David Coleman: Yeah, that’s one of the issues that we’d like to see a bit more detail on in the legislation. And there are different approaches around the world on this issue. But the bottom line is there has to be a standard which is sufficiently strong to be meaningful. That it is enforced and that there is not wriggle room, because if there is wriggle room, the tech platforms will take it. So let’s not give them wriggle room. Let’s be very clear. Let’s be very clear to Instagram. Let’s be very clear to TikTok. Let’s be very clear to Snapchat. You are captured by this. Your products, we believe, as Australians are not safe for younger children and we’re going to do everything we sensibly can to require you to protect those Australian children. And I said, it won’t be perfect. Will people be able to point to examples of imperfections? Sure. Will it be infinitely better than what we have today? Absolutely. And that’s why I think it’s so important that we get this done.