Social media ban: The PM’s move against big tech is proving popular, but will it work?

There is a reason Anthony Albanese flooded the airwaves today, digital and terrestrial.

Seventy per cent of people agree with his government’s decision to ban under-16-year-olds from YouTube, SnapChat and other online sources of communication, entertainment and information, according to a confidential survey shared with The Nightly by one of the targeted companies.

Support is consistent irrespective of age, wealth or political views. Only 13 per cent oppose a rule that will affect an estimated 2.4 million children.

In a country where people can’t even agree on a date for the national day, the overwhelming endorsement explains why the Prime Minister deployed the Government’s formidable public relations firepower to promote the ban’s commencement Wednesday.

A dance in Hobart

Mr Albanese appeared on the Today Show, Sunrise, ABC television and radio and Nova FM. Each time, he played to powerful forces: the familial desire to protect children and national pride.

After the interviews he held a press conference at his Sydney residence, where he produced a real-life beneficiary/victim: a 12-year-old Tasmanian girl, Flossie Brodribb, who also got to visit the Prime Minister’s Canberra office last week as a reward for endorsing the policy.

Miss Brodribb, he said, would fly to Hobart after lunch in Kirribilli for her last day of primary school and an end-of-year dance.

“You can’t dance if you’re online, and it’s much more fun to do it than to watch it,” he said. “And you know what? There’s something else, Flossie.

“The people that you’re dancing with at your year-six school you’ll know are real, unlike the people online, who you don’t know whether they’re real.”

Mr Albanese’s advocacy of primary school dances — perhaps the most innocent form of young romance — helps explain why the Prime Minister commands the greatest parliamentary majority in history. After the energy, drive and arrogance of Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd, Mr Albanese has embraced the persona of the common man.

After boasting his ban was being copied around the world, the Prime Minister took off his jacket, put on an apron, picked up tongs, a cooked sausages for high-school students.

Getting personal

The social-media ban’s popularity drove the Opposition’s latent libertarian instincts into the shadows. With no obvious line of attack on policy grounds, it got personal.

Opposition researchers distributed detailed lists of Sports and Communications Minister Anika Wells’ travel. They had a lot of material to work with. One of the lawyer’s skills is coordinating professional and social events.

In addition to claiming at least $62,000 attending more than 60 sporting events since 2022, she flew from her Brisbane home to Sydney in August for work meetings — and her 40th birthday party, according to The West Australian.

Expenses abuse might be one of the great Australian pastimes — up there with four-wheel-drive cars and following property prices — but even if Ms Wells is found to have operated within the rules, her dedication to Australian sport became a distraction from what may be the most popular policy of 2025.

Mr Albanese could have easily distanced himself. Instead, he played the sympathy card by drawing attention to Ms Wells’ three young children, including twins born in office.

Ms Wells didn’t make the mistake of hiding, which would have reinforced perceptions of her guilt. “I have followed all of the rules,” she told the ABC this morning.

By defending her, Mr Albanese likely reassured every one of his 42 ministers, who know they are a mere headline away from an expenses shaming. Such acts help preserve internal unity and keep leaders in their jobs.

Paying the price

Travelgate and the YouTube ban absorbed so much attention that arguably one of the most consequential stories of the year did not receive the prominence it deserves.

On Thursday afternoon Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock said interest rates may rise next year and cuts widely expected a few months ago will not happen.

She also acknowledged an inflation breakout in September meant reductions in official rates in February, May and August could have been a mistake. “We’ve got a bit of a pause now to make sure that we haven’t eased a bit far,” she told reporters in Sydney.

A reversal of the 2025 rate cuts would cost the average mortgagee around $4000. Given the Federal Government is contributing to inflation by running a $40 billion deficit, voters may be about to experience significant financial pain from economic decisions made by Mr Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

At least the kids will be safe. Or will they?

The most popular site among under-16s is Snapchat, which allows people to share photos and videos. The company has a Sydney office, where full-time safety teams police harmful content.

Their expertise will no longer protect children, who are already switching to social media sites run by small operators not covered by the ban.

When children desire something a lot, they can be resourceful and devious. Instead of getting more kids to a school dance, Mr Albanese’s ban might lead them to the fringes of the internet, a place no child should be.