Australia Social Media Ban for Under 16s Comes into Effect

Hello, we start in Australia because, in a few hours time, the social media ban for children under the age of 16 will come into effect.

哈囉，我們首先關注澳洲，因為再過幾個小時，禁止 16 歲以下兒童使用社群媒體的禁令就將正式生效。

The legislation's aimed at protecting children from cyberbullying, online predators, and harmful content.

這項立法旨在保護兒童免受網路霸凌、線上掠奪者及有害內容的侵害。

It's been a heated debate worldwide.

這在全球引發了激烈的辯論。

The tech giant Reddit is the latest to say it will comply with the new law, but has described it as arbitrary.

科技巨頭 Reddit 是最新表示會遵守新法的平台，但也形容這項規定太過武斷。

Instagram and Facebook have already started shutting down accounts of people under 16.

Instagram 和 Facebook 已經開始關閉 16 歲以下使用者的帳號。

Some popular apps and websites, including WhatsApp, are exempt.

包括 WhatsApp 在內的部分熱門應用程式和網站則獲得豁免。

Our Australia correspondent, Katy Watson, reports.

請看本台駐澳洲記者凱蒂·華森的報導。

For the good of Kirsty.

為了克斯蒂好。

For the good of Lucy and Anya.

為了露西和安雅好。

Australia is about to try an ambitious experiment:

澳洲即將展開一場雄心勃勃的實驗：

to be the first country in the world to boot young teens off social media.

成為全球第一個將青少年踢出社群媒體的國家。

The message from the government is clear.

政府傳達的訊息非常明確。

For the good of their well-being.

為了他們的福祉。

The law means a return to the good life and an end to the angst felt by parents watching their kids' lives online.

這項法律意味著回歸美好生活，並終結家長看著孩子整天沉迷網路時所感受到的焦慮。

With the ban coming in just as the summer holidays begin, kids here all have an opinion on what the government's doing.

隨著禁令在暑假剛開始時生效，這裡的孩子對政府的這項舉措各有不同看法。

They see social media as a place kind of like a cesspool of the internet where all kinds of debauchery happens,

他們把社群媒體看成像是網路的污水池，充斥著各種墮落敗壞的事，

and just general nonsense influencing their children, which is true,

還有各種胡言亂語在影響他們的孩子，這確實沒錯，

but that could be bettered with like regulation over complete banning.

但這可以透過適度監管來改善，而不是完全禁止。

I feel like it will be good for people to know there's life outside of social media,

我覺得讓人們知道社群媒體之外還有真實生活是好事，

like everything on social media isn't real.

像是社群媒體上的東西並不全都是真的。

Kids are going to find a way to get around it and are going to still access social media even with a ban in place.

孩子們還是會找到方法繞過去，即便有禁令，他們還是會繼續使用社群媒體。

I just want to see it, and I'm going to delete it.

我只是想看一下，看完我就會刪掉。

Tilly Rosewarne was a keen dancer and loved her social media.

蒂莉·羅斯沃恩熱愛跳舞，也很喜歡玩社群媒體。

But cyberbullying pulled her life apart.

但網路霸凌徹底摧毀了她的生活。

Nearly 4 years ago, Tilly killed herself. She was just 15.

將近四年前，蒂莉結束了自己的生命，當時她才年僅 15 歲。

And it began as things like messaging, text messages,

一開始只是一些傳訊息、收發簡訊，

but then moved on to things like TikTok and Snapchat and Instagram.

但後來就轉移到了 TikTok、Snapchat 和 Instagram 這類平台。

You've been campaigning, you've been alongside the prime minister speaking at, you know, in New York about the importance.

您一直在發起倡議，曾陪同總理在紐約發表演說，強調其重要性。

Why do you think this ban is so important?

您為什麼認為這項禁令如此重要？

Because children across our world are enduring this.

因為全世界的孩子都在承受這樣的折磨。

Because these are methods of harm, these are agents of harm that are unregulated.

因為這些是造成傷害的手段，是未受監管的傷害媒介。

And I think our children have been the social experiment.

我認為我們的孩子一直以來都成了這場社會實驗的白老鼠。

We have just said, 'Here's a phone,' as I did when Tilly was 12,

我們只是把手機遞給他們說『給你手機』，就像蒂莉 12 歲時我也這麼做一樣，

not knowing that that would be part of her demise.

卻不知道這會成為奪走她生命的一部分原因。

That, really, her connection to an unfettered, unregulated world

她與一個不受拘束、毫無監管的世界相連，

would mean that she was exposed to all sorts of harm that, as a parent, if it was in front of you, you wouldn't allow it.

這意味著她暴露在各種傷害之中，而身為父母，如果那些事就發生在你眼前，你是絕對不會允許的。

And that it's not that her life mattered, but that her pain mattered.

不僅僅是她的生命很重要，她的痛苦也同樣值得被重視。

That no one should have to go through what Tilly did.

沒有人應該承受蒂莉所經歷的一切。

For many experts, though, this law isn't the answer.

然而對許多專家來說，這項法律並非解決之道。

The ban does not address the qualitative problems that young people experience online.

這項禁令並未解決年輕人在網路上所面臨的實質問題。

What it does is put a giant gate in front of those problems and says you can't open it for an extra 3 years.

它所做的只是在那些問題前立起一道巨大的鐵門，並說接下來 3 年內你們不能打開它。

The world's watching Australia closely right now.

全世界目前都正密切關注著澳洲。

But for every fan of the law and for all of its critics,

但無論是支持這項法律的人還是所有的批評者，

it's the lives of Australia's teenagers that matter the most.

最重要的始終是澳洲青少年的生活。

Katy Watson, BBC News, in Sydney.

BBC 記者凱蒂·華森在雪梨的報導。

Dr. Catherine Archer is communication researcher and senior lecturer at Edith Cowan University in Perth,

凱薩琳·阿徹博士是伯斯伊迪斯科文大學的傳播學研究員兼資深講師，

and gave us her analysis of the upcoming ban.

她為我們分析了即將上路的禁令。

Kids, you know, the older teens who've got social media accounts are downloading their data, that's been sort of suggested that they do that.

年齡較大的青少年若擁有社群媒體帳號，現在都在下載自己的資料，這也是大家建議他們做的。

But I do know, anecdotally, that also they are migrating to other platforms that aren't as yet covered under the ban.

但我也私下聽說，他們正在轉移到其他目前尚未被納入禁令的平台。

I've heard of the new, of the platform Yope, which has sort of got similar facilities to Snapchat.

我聽說過一個叫 Yope 的新平台，它的功能有點類似 Snapchat。

And also that, potentially, some of the age-verification software may not be working

而且可能有些年齡驗證軟體並沒有發揮作用，

because 14 and 15-year-olds are still able to to use their photo, and it seems to be working for them to bypass around the laws.

因為 14、15 歲的孩子依然能用照片認證，而且似乎真的能讓他們成功繞過法律規範。

With parental permission, of course, because some parents are saying, 'Look, my son or daughter is 14 or 15,

當然這是在父母許可下的，因為有些家長會說：『我的兒子或女兒都 14、15 歲了，

that's their connection, that's the way they communicate with their friends.'

那是他們的社交聯繫，是他們和朋友溝通的方式。』

It's like, you know, 40 years ago if our parents said to us, 'You're not allowed to use the phone anymore,'

這就像 40 年前如果我們的父母跟我們說『你們以後不准再用電話了』一樣，

it would have been quite a shock for teens at that stage.

對當時的青少年來說一定會是個巨大的打擊。

So, it is the way kids communicate, so it is going to be quite a difficult transition, I would suggest.

所以這畢竟是孩子們溝通的方式，我認為這將會是一段相當艱難的過渡期。