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Wed 30 Jul

Australia Institute Live: YouTube officially part of under 16s social media ban, climate still tricky. As it happened

Amy Remeikis – Chief Political Analyst

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The Day's News

06.30 AEST

So does Simon Stiell want Australia to aim for an 80% reduction on 2005 emissions levels by 2035 as has been widely reported as the closed door figure, or no?

Chris Bowen:

Simon has made the same case privately as he’s made publicly, that a good target and good climate policy is good economics policy. He’s made the case for Australia that it’s good national security policy in our region. We’ve made that case ourselves, and made that point ourselves in the Pacific on a very regular basis. So, there’s a strong degree of alignment there in terms of objective. But we’ll be setting our target in terms of our national interest, what’s good for Australia, what comes out of the modelling as the right balance for us, of course, also as the Climate Change Act demands, which we put into place consideration of the science and all the evidence before us.

So don’t expect too much from the government then. It is, after all, the least they can do.

06.29 AEST

Energy minister Chris Bowen was on ABC’s 7.30 overnight where he was asked about the visit of the UN climate chief Simon Steill and Australia’s 2035 target.

Bowen:

Simon Stiell, the Executive Secretary, is a very welcome guest in Australia, of course, and he is visiting every G20 country, making the case that good climate policy is good economics, that a good target encourages investment and jobs, and we agree with that. So, that is the case that he is making and it’s a case that some others in the Australian political debate would do well to listen to.

Of course, in our case, we have a very rigorous process, world’s best practice for setting a climate target with advice, independent advice from the Climate Change Authority to come to the Government.

Full consideration of economic impacts, the science, all the evidence before us, which I then consider and take through the Cabinet and is in a very transparent way. So, we are well down the process, but I haven’t received that advice yet. But we agree a good strong target is good economic policy, but it’s also got to be achievable. It’s got to be a target which we can set out and achieve. Anybody can set a high target with no plan to get there. That’s not the approach our government has taken. It’s not the approach we’ll take in the future.

06.26 AEST

Good morning

Hello and welcome back to another day of Australia Institute Live.

The government is chomping at the bit to move forward with its social media ban for under-16s and this morning has announced that YouTube WILL be part of the ban, confirming what has been known pretty much from the beginning.

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube are the major tech giants who will be subject to the ban, which puts the onus on parents and their children to uphold, rather than force the tech giants to create safe spaces and get rid of all the Nazis and other dangerous influences.

But this ban, which had its genesis in FM radio and News Corp campaigns plays REALLY well with parents, so it is all steam ahead from the same government which has dragged its feet when it comes to enacting gambling ad bans, despite all the evidence of harm prevention they have there too.

In a statement Albanese said of the social media ban:

Our Government is making it clear – we stand on the side of families.

Social media has a social responsibility and there is no doubt that Australian kids are being negatively impacted by online platforms so I’m calling time on it.

Social media is doing social harm to our children, and I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs.”

Which is the same thing three times.

YouTube have responded with a statement saying:

We share the Government’s goal of addressing and reducing online harms. Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens. It’s not social media. 

The Government’s announcement today reverses a clear, public commitment to exclude YouTube from this ban. We will consider next steps and will continue to engage with the Government.”

I mean, I don’t know – all of this could probably be avoided if there was just someone concerned with keeping spaces safe for kids.

Anyways, that will be the big government news today, but there will be plenty more that pops up.

And that is where I and my four morning coffees come in. And I found the chocolate I had hidden from myself, but also that I have the ingredients for cupcakes, so looks like a stress bake is in my future!

Ready?

Let’s get into it.

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