Two Australian states will host a social media summit over two days to address the increasing harm online platforms are having on children and young people.
The NSW Government is hosting sessions at ICC Sydney today and the Government of South Australia will host sessions at the Adelaide Convention Centre on October 11.
The summit bring together experts, policymakers, academics, young people, and community voices to discuss the positive and negative impacts of social media on people’s lives and how government can best support digital wellbeing.
Most government's are united in lifting the minimum age on social media.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to introduce legislations to enforce a minimum age for access to social media.
The summit will help inform the design and delivery of a range of policies, programs and resources to address the challenges posed by social media.
Day one of the summit will feature panel discussions and presentations with academics, industry leaders, youth representatives, and mental and physical health experts.
Some of the moderators, panellists and presenters include Diego State University professor of psychology Dr Jean Twenge who will evidence on the relationship between the global adolescent mental health crisis and social media usage.
Data scientist and social media accountability advocate Frances Haugen will also give a presentation. She was a former Facebook product manager and become a whistleblower in 2021 revealing internal documents that exposed the company’s prioritisation of profits over user safety. She now leads Beyond the Screen, a non-profit promoting accountability in social media.
Key focus areas of the Social Media Summit will be:
- Impacts of social media on children and young people's wellbeing
- Online safety
- Social media's role in disinformation and misinformation
- Addressing online hate and extremism
- How social media is changing the way government delivers services
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