How a dorky prime minister and a nation of rule abiders is changing the world |
When Australia’s social media ban for under 16s came into effect last Wednesday, I got a call from a friend back home asking me about it. It’s been all over the news back home, even amid everything else happening. It’s not just the New York Times – the TV news in my US hometown, about a third the size of Geelong, was covering it.
It’s been a global headline. It was a major story on the BBC and CNN. Media organisations in countries including Germany and Singapore were watching closely, asking if Australia was finally breaking Silicon Valley’s spell.
Anthony Albanese has taken on the big tech companies and the world is watching.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Australia has become the test case for reining in Big Tech – the first major democracy to force the platforms to change rather than wait for them to clean up their own mess.
Every big wave of social policy starts with a first mover. One country takes a bold step, then others slowly pile on until the idea becomes inevitable. We saw this happen in the mid-2010s with same-sex marriage. The Netherlands made the first move in 2001. Other countries watched to see how the world might shift, then Brazil, France, Uruguay, and New Zealand all legalised it in the span of a few weeks in 2013, kicking off a chain of dozens of countries doing the same in following years – Australia arriving late to the party in 2017.
This feels like a similar moment, except this time with Australia at the forefront.
Australians love to think of themselves as larrikins – the Ned Kelly of the popular imagination – and yet most will queue at a deserted pedestrian crossing and wait for the light to change before continuing on. This is a country of sometimes indecipherable rules........