One month until Australia's internet changes forever
Hi, As you may have noticed, my reporting since this year’s election has focused on Australia’s teen social media ban. There are so many reasons to be fascinated by it. It’s the Albanese government’s flagship tech policy. It’s been pushed by big tech’s enemies (particularly traditional media) but given to big tech to make it work. The ban’s broad approach is supposed to help solve a lot of ills, but the specifics of how it works, based on what we know, seem to complicate, even contradict, those aims. It’s about helping kids, but the policy itself has been aimed squarely at appealing to parents and others. Young people’s voices have been drowned out. Throughout my coverage, I’ve been doing my best to talk to as many people as are involved and affected, to understand the various processes that have brought us here, to decipher the details of policy and politics — all to give a fair perspective on the winding path here. (Also not to to toot my own horn but I’ve done some good reporting on secret political deals , leaked reports , secret government polling , trial tumult , last minute lawmaking , and loopholes ). Now, it’s 38 days until the deadline for social media platforms to start taking the “reasonable steps” to keep Australians under 16 from having accounts on their platforms. In the lead up to the deadline and afterwards, I’ll be closely reporting on what’s happening. Soon, we’re going to find out more about which major companies will be required to comply, how (and if) they plan to do it, and how Australians respond. Not just young people, but the rest of us who use these platforms daily and will need to have our ages checked — and all the complication that comes with that. I’m putting this out there because I want to know your questions, hear your thoughts, get your tips! Tell me what I’m missing, what I’m getting, what I’m wrong about and what’s on the money. You can securely email me here or message me here , confidentiality guaranteed! Also, perhaps confusingly, I’ve started another mailing list that I email out every single article I write because it would be really annoying if I did it to this list. If you want to make sure you don’t miss a Cam update, sign up here . Yours, Cam.