Canadian Centre for Child Protection Inc.’s Post

Here we go again. Just as the Australian government contemplates online safety measures, one of which proposes to raise the minimum age for allowing children to use social media from 13 to 16, Snapchat went on the offensive – which tech often does following major pushes for change by child safety advocates. https://lnkd.in/gRhq8y8Q First, the company released new research that found 80% of teens (ages 13-17) report feeling “happy” when using direct messaging tools like Snapchat. The press release announcing these findings is titled “New Research Reveals Communicating Online with Friends Brings Australians Happiness”. (https://lnkd.in/gjFkYkis)   “Are you taking away something that they’ve been enjoying and benefiting from for, in some cases, several years now?” their spokesperson commented aloud with journalists. It sounds like they are arguing that so long as their product makes teens feel good, we shouldn’t set legal guardrails around its use, despite the known harms. I'd be interested in their take on underage drinking. To be honest, a more fitting headline for their research announcement would be: "Snapchat-funded research shows teenagers like Snapchat". Second, it is a bit perplexing as to why Snapchat is so eager to squash raising the age to 16. It doesn’t appear that they’ve even been adhering to the 13 year-old cut off anyway, so how exactly would such a change impact their usual approach? Third, Snapchat’s VP of Trust & Safety took to the media to push back against this safety measure by (a) arguing that if under 16s were to be barred from their service, they should bear no responsibility for gatekeeping those users, and (b) redirecting the issue by framing it as a parental responsibility under the guise of choice. It’s a classic bait-and-switch we see all the time. While on the issue of parents, let’s remind Snapchat that just two months ago, nearly 70 percent of Australians said they support raising the age minimum for social media from 13 to 16 years (https://lnkd.in/gFGmkaRb) Bottom line: we need authentic conversations about how we collectively work together and fight for our kids' right to be safe online. This effort certainly isn’t that.