Today we joined Orygen, headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation, ReachOut, Beyond Blue, and the Black Dog Institute at Parliament House to give evidence at the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society.
batyr's youth advocacy lead, Abi Cooper, shared her personal experience of growing up with social media and the unique opportunity before us to create genuine and meaningful change, change that is only possible if policy solutions are designed with young people and not focused on a single blanket solution.
Ben Bartlett from ReachOut read out a joint statement from all 5 organisations highlighting the importance of involving young people in discussions about social media, and acknowledging both the risks and the opportunities that social media presents for young people’s mental health.
Read the joint statement below and you can watch the live stream of the hearing here.
Opening statement
Good morning. On behalf of Orygen, headspace, batyr, Beyond Blue, Black Dog Institute and ReachOut, I thank the Committee for the opportunity to give evidence today. And thank you, Abi for making that statement, we wanted to make sure that it was your voice as a young person that was heard first by this Committee.
The impact of social media use on mental health is complex. Social media has been shown to have both
positive and negative effects, however, there is growing public concern about prominent negative impacts that is driving urgent calls for action.
As some of Australia’s leading mental health organisations we are united in our advocacy for nuanced, evidence-based and co-designed policy responses. The issues and problematic elements of social media are well known. We want to make it clear that we acknowledge the very legitimate concerns of parents and carers and we agree - reform is necessary.
We also recognise that this is a complex area for regulators and legislators. As organisations who work every day in the digital world and on the ground with young people to improve their mental health outcomes, we are well positioned to offer informed perspectives about what we see as some of the key risks and unintended consequences of social media bans for young people. We have also worked to develop advice about policy directions that show promise in effectively in addressing harms.
Research done by world leading experts sitting at this table and online, from Black Dog Institute and Orygen, has shown clearly that whilst social media is causing harm for some young people, it also offers benefits for youth mental health and wellbeing. This is via peer support, access to information, and a sense of community that some young people, especially from vulnerable cohorts, can find it hard to find in their real-world interactions.
Social media is increasingly the front door of the mental health system, as research and consultation with young people done by ReachOut, batyr and Headspace shows. In an already overstretched mental health system, we strongly advise against shutting off a free and accessible avenue for support that is helping young people understand what they are going through, validate their experience, connect with others and build their confidence to take action and then seek further forms of support.
A ban would also expose young people to new harms. It may leave some young people without any mental health support options, it may make them less likely to seek help when they need it, and be less likely to tell an adult when things go wrong on social media. It may also push them from known online environments where we can offer support and implement reforms to improve safety - to other platforms of which we have no oversight or safety regulation. Together, we want to work with governments, parents and carers, platforms, and, most importantly, young people on solutions that minimise harms and maximise benefits of social media use.
We are united in our call for a range of evidence-based measures. Our specific recommendations include:
Firstly, co-designing reform and new safety features with young people and other users to ensure that
they are likely to be effective and fit-for-purpose.
Secondly, policies that compel social media platforms to step up and design their products for safety, not engagement, with greater transparency and user control, for example:
a. putting an end to ‘sticky features’ like infinite scroll
b. mandating safety features and increased social media literacy programs for young people
c. increasing algorithm transparency and giving users control of their algorithms, so they are
in charge of the content they see.
Thirdly, establishing a system of verification of mental health information on platforms to help users distinguish good advice from misinformation. As a sector, we strongly endorse any moves towards
improving the quality and availability of reliable mental health-related content on social media. Australians of all ages, not only young people, seek mental health content on social media. Social media platforms allow organisations to proactively reach people in distress.
And finally, continuing to increase evidence, knowledge and digital literacy at many levels including funding more research into the links between social media and mental health and increasing support for parents in how to manage their children’s access to and use of social media.
This generation of young people have grown up with screens and smartphones being a part of their lives. They are tech savvy and users will always be steps ahead of efforts to regulate them in this space. That’s why we think it is essential that young people are fully engaged in this debate and so we would also welcome an opportunity for representatives of our respective youth advocacy and lived experience
groups, and other youth organisations, to appear before the Committee to ensure that the voices and
experiences of young people are front and centre in this discussion. On behalf of our organisations, thank you again for this opportunity. We welcome your questions.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis and is in immediate danger of harming themselves or others, call 000. You can find a comprehensive list of mental health support services here.