With Kids in Danger, Social Media Needs More Than a Tweet and More Than Tweaking

One of Parliament’s leading voices on national security and child safety has reiterated calls for mandatory social media identity verification, as child exploitation and foreign interference continue to threaten Australians.

Deputy Chair of Parliament’s powerful Intelligence and security committee and well-known advocate for social media reform, Andrew Wallace MP, previously called for social media ID verification as Chair of the Social Policy and Legal Affairs landmark inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence.

The fresh call comes aer Meta announced the roll-out of default end-to-end encryption for one-to-one messages and voice calls on Messenger and Facebook, against the advice of child safety and law enforcement agencies.

“Anonymous perpetrators of violence use social media to target their victims. Anonymous predators use social media to groom and exploit children. Anonymous pares and organised crime gangs use armies of operatives and automated bots to radicalise, terrorise and steal from vulnerable Australians,” Mr Wallace said, adding, “And their greatest tool is anonymity.”

“That’s why I’m once again calling for social media ID verification. We need to peel back the layer of anonymity which only protects the worst kinds of criminals,” Mr Wallace continued.

“In my inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence in 2021, I recommended that the Federal Government implement a mandatory ID verification regime for social media platforms, to address the problems stemming from anonymity,” Mr Wallace said, adding, “The failure of big tech and big porn to act means the Government simply must step up to protect Australians.”

Mr Wallace’s push comes aer a fierce campaign to introduce age assurance technology to prevent children from accessing pornography and wagering online, and the Coalition’s recent legislation to outlaw “post-boasting” - the use of social media to gain notoriety for criminal activity.

The former Speaker of the House has also called for reform and regulation on social media algorithms, which he has claimed ferment foreign interference, disrupt democracy, and entrap children in cycles of harm to their mental, physical and sexual health.

“2 in 5 kids see porn on their newsfeed without looking for it. Dangerous fad diets and “thinspiration” can lead to eating disorders and self-harm. Foreign disinformation campaigns drive extremism and division. Algorithms amplify biases, desensise us, and disable moderaon. Things must change.” Mr Wallace said.

“With nearly 3 in 4 Australians already on social media, this issue needs more than a tweet and it needs more than tweaking. Age assurance, algorithm regulation, and social media ID verification are urgently required to keep kids safe online,” Mr Wallace concluded.