Social Media And Free Speech: Are Young Australians Losing Faith In Online Platforms?

Young Australians are becoming increasingly skeptical about the reliability and integrity of social media, especially after the recent changes to platforms like Meta and TikTok.

Many social media leaders attended U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was seated with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google's Sundar Pichai, and Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk.

Later, Trump appointed Musk as "a special government employee." Zuckerberg also made headlines by firing fact-checkers and stating that Trump's election win marked a "cultural tipping point" for free speech.

This has made young people more skeptical about social media, ABC Net reported.

On the first day of his presidency, Trump signed an order promising "freedom of speech" on social media. Some young people, like 21-year-old Shanti, think this could be a positive change.

She feels everyone should have the right to voice their opinions without feeling discriminated against, as it's their platform. She acknowledges that social media offers many benefits, but she believes it's important to be cautious about what to trust.

While she finds useful information and interesting content, she doesn't fully trust social media and stresses the importance of knowing what to believe, ABC reported.

Ashleigh, 20, shares the same view and emphasizes the importance of fact-checking what is seen online. She mentioned coming across a lot of information about the LA fires.

"And then I Google it, and I'm like, 'Oh, maybe this is not real? Maybe, it's artificially generated media?"

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Lincoln is concerned that social media platforms might be used to promote a specific political agenda. He believes that Musk and Zuckerberg could push their political views because of their connections with Trump and try to make people agree with them more.

Liam, 16, shares this concern, saying the social media giants might use their platforms to influence people, Saul, 15, thinks this could give them "a lot of power over the world."

Vittoria Elliott, a journalist with Wired, a US-based digital magazine, explained that many people feel they have nowhere else to turn. While some might want to leave Facebook or Instagram, it becomes difficult to stay in touch with others. Similarly, people may want to quit Twitter, but they struggle to find another place to get their news.

In November, the Australian Parliament passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, prohibiting individuals under 16 from accessing social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.

This legislation mandates that social media companies take reasonable steps to prevent minors from creating accounts, with non-compliance potentially resulting in fines of up to AU$50 million. The law is set to take effect in late 2025.