Anika Wells wages war against ‘dopamine drip’ with Australia’s impending social media ban

Anika Wells says Australia’s impending social media ban will help teenagers break away from the “dopamine drip” binding under-16s to their phones.

The Communications Minister will use her National Press Club address on Wednesday to reiterate her warning to big tech firms to comply or face fines up to $50 million.

It comes just a week out from the December 10 implementation date and a day before Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads — has warned it will start switching off underage accounts.

In extracts from her speech, seen by The West Australian, Ms Wells is expected to declare that the Albanese Government “won’t let the platforms off the hook”.

As part of their enforcement action, 10 platforms included in the ban will be hit with notices on December 11 requesting evidence of how many underage accounts they have axed.

“The Government recognises that age assurance may require several days or even weeks to complete fairly and accurately. However, if eSafety identifies systemic breaches of the law, the platforms will face fines of up to $49.5 million,” Ms Wells says in her speech.

The list includes Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, Snapchat, Reddit, and Kick.

But it has been described as “dynamic” with Ms Well and eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant previously threatening that other apps could be added if they enhance features to be more social media-like.

Ms Wells is also flag that while the Government expects it won’t be a perfect roll out, any failure to comply would be considered a breach of the law.

“Yes — there will still be kids with accounts on 10 December, and probably for some time after that. But our expectation is clear: any company that allows this is breaking the law,” she is due to say.

“We accept it will take time for the age assurance sieve to filter out the existing accounts and stop new accounts from being created.

“We know it won’t be perfect from day one, but we won’t give up – and we won’t let the platforms off the hook.”

In the extracts of her address, Ms Wells also references a 13-year-old Queensland girl who wrote to her ahead of the ban, saying that “you guys don’t understand what it’s like to be young” and “all we know is social media”.

The Minister will use this example as one of the key reasons why the Government feels they need to act, to allow kids to be kids again and give them the childhoods that “Gen X and Millennials” had growing up.

“When I read that, I thought to myself — that’s the problem,” she says.

“When Gen X and Millennials were growing up, we had a computer in the family room, a TV in the lounge room, and a landline in the kitchen.

“Compare this to Gen Alpha. Since they got their first smartphone and their first social media account, they have been connected to the dopamine drip.

“In the palm of their hand, they have constant access to a TV, phone, and a computer.

“Targeted algorithms, persistent notifications, and toxic popularity metres are stealing their attention for hours every day.

“If they put the phone away, they might miss something. There is no reprieve.

“That’s why this law matters — to give Gen Alpha, and the next generation, a break from the persuasive and pervasive pull of social media.”

It comes as department officials appeared before a Senate Estimates hearing on Tuesday.

The bureaucrats were quizzed about a $14m advertising blitz, which was launched in October, ahead of the ban’s implementation was scrutinised.

It showed $3.62m had already been spent on the campaign so far, which is expected to conclude around December 20 — 10 days after the ban comes into effect.

Greens Senator David Shoebridge also asked what groundwork had been undertaken into establishing a Digital Duty of Care, as floated by the Albanese Government last term.

Officials, however, revealed that while roundtables had been underway in recent weeks — there hadn’t been any direct consultation undertaken in the last term to legislate the safeguard.

“We could have legislated that through the parliament last year or the year before, but instead, we have the government pushing ahead with the social media ban and soft pedalling on a Duty of Care,” Senator Shoebridge said in a press conference after the hearing.

“If we want to make social media safe for young people, we should also be making social media safe for everybody.

“If this government wanted to protect young people, if they wanted to stop extremism… put in a digital duty of care.

“We’ll vote it through, a meaningful Digital Duty of Care, in a heartbeat through the Senate.

“It’s no secret who’s lobbying the government — Meta, Google, Twitter — the tech bros who are dominating the investment are coming in here and dominating the Labor Government.”