Nova radio star Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli has slammed Instagram’s new ‘teen accounts’ feature as a “watered-down” solution to Australia’s mental health crisis.
The Meta-owned app announced new safety features on Tuesday that will force all Australian teens to use specialized accounts for the next 60 days.
Accounts limit who can see and send messages to users ages 13-17, restrict their exposure to inappropriate content, and enhance parental oversight.
Built-in protections can only be changed or disabled with parental permission.
The 44-year-old Nova 96.9 breakfast presenter and child protection campaigner told Daily Mail Australia that the ability for parents to remove protection significantly reduced the effectiveness of the new accounts.
“At 36 months, we are willing to take any positive steps to protect children online. Unfortunately, we find this to be a bit of a soft offer,” said the father of three.
“It doesn’t really solve the problem we have.
“It’s like receiving a gift bag without being able to go to the show: it’s just symbolic.”
Nova star Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli (pictured with fellow 36 Months campaigners Hamish Blake and Robb Evans) says Instagram’s new “teen accounts” must do more to protect children
Meta has introduced a number of new safety features that will limit who can see and send messages to its users aged 13 to 17, as well as restrict their access to inappropriate content.
He and the production company’s CEO, Rob Galluzzo, have been pushing for the age limit for accessing social media to be raised from 13 to 16.
A petition, titled 36 Months, has received more than 115,000 signatures in support of the change and was recently presented to the New South Wales Parliament.
His organization believes the strict age restriction will allow impressionable teens to “get to know themselves before the rest of the world.”
Wippa said children will likely pressure their parents to disable safety features.
“This puts pressure on parents, and it’s one of the things we’re trying to alleviate. Parents often feel that if the parents of the child across the street say it’s okay, they should too. Otherwise, they’ve got an angry child on their hands,” she said.
“We need to relieve that pressure on parents and children who feel they will face social isolation if they are the only ones not online.”
The radio star described social media as a “sensitivity amplifier” during an already incredibly emotional time in young people’s lives.
“We want to reinforce to everyone that this is a sensitive time, like when you’re growing up,” Wippa said.
‘If social media had existed when I was 13, it would have been an extremely difficult time. We want children to develop into the best they can be.
‘If we could free up some space, they could use that time to learn lessons, resilience, self-esteem and belonging.
‘All those crucial things that are so important at that stage of development.’
Premier Anthony Albanese promised earlier this month to introduce a bill to raise the age limit on social media.
Wippa believes the move could make Australia the country that other Commonwealth nations should follow in cracking down on teen social media use.
“Our biggest breakthrough was that the Prime Minister said he will make a change in November,” he said.
‘This was the biggest step forward and the bravest move we have seen in these dangerous times to protect our children.
‘The Prime Minister can lead the Commonwealth and stand on an international stage and say, “This is not good enough for our children. We will not accept this in Australia because it is damaging to our children.”
“We have kids on the edge right now, there’s an immediacy to this.”
Robb Evans lost his daughter, Olivia (pictured together), to suicide last April after a years-long battle with anorexia, which was made worse by eating disorder “advice” on Instagram.
Wippa (pictured delivering 115,000 signatures over 36 months to parliament) believes restricting Australian teenagers’ access to social media will dramatically improve their mental health.
Compared to the demands of 36 Months, as well as other similar campaigns around the world, Wippa described the stories of Meta teenagers as “a peace offering” to parents.
She desperately wants to see the age limit on social media raised to 16 before her nine-year-old son can use the app, which will happen in just four years.
“It certainly doesn’t do the job and it doesn’t provide the relief that we’ve been campaigning so hard for,” he said.
“IThe last thing I want to think about is (my son), or any other child, being exposed to things they don’t need or being approached in inappropriate ways.
One of the people with the strongest emotional ties to the campaign is Robb Evans, who lost his daughter, Olivia, to suicide last April after a years-long battle with anorexia, which was exacerbated by “advice” about eating disorders on Instagram.
Mr Evans described teenage Instagram accounts as “a positive start” but “not enough”.
“My daughter, Liv, was just 15 years old when social media amplified her struggles with an eating disorder, leading to her tragic death,” she said in a statement Wednesday.
We cannot afford to compromise when it comes to the safety and mental health of our children.
‘Australia has the opportunity to set a global precedent by raising the age limit and ensuring that social media is a space for safe and healthy development.
“This is a matter of national importance and I urge our government to stand firm in protecting the future of young Australians.”
In a statement Wednesday, Evans, who lost her daughter Olivia to suicide in 2023, described the teenage Instagram accounts as “a positive start” but “not enough.”
A Meta spokesperson said it “disagrees” with criticism of its teen account updates, which are seen as ineffective.
“We disagree that Instagram teen accounts don’t take the pressure off parents – this new feature further empowers and supports parents,” she said.
‘This new experience is designed to give parents peace of mind that their teens have the right protections in place. We’ve been saying for years that we want teens to have safe, age-appropriate experiences online.
‘Yesterday’s update builds on the years we’ve spent developing and releasing more than 50 tools, features and resources to support parents and teens on our apps.
‘For us at Instagram, parents come first. We believe that parents know best and we let them make the decisions because they know their teenagers better than any company, any policymaker or any government.
“We’ve designed Instagram accounts for teens to meet what we know are the biggest concerns of parents, and we’ll continue to focus on this.”
Both Wippa and Evans have insisted that the new update not be seen as a compromise on their demands for the app to do more.
The increasing use of social media has been linked to mental health problems, cyberbullying, anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide among Australian teenagers.
36 Months co-founder Rob Galluzzo added that the new teen accounts were a clear sign that Meta is aware of the problems it has contributed to.
“It seems that Meta has heard this request and has taken some positive steps,” he said.
‘The ideal would be that the government would not have to intervene and commit to legislating changes in the minimum age.
‘Social media platforms should have been the first to take the initiative in this regard. I think they missed the opportunity to build trust with parents.
“36 Months has helped take social media out of cyberspace and into a national health conversation. It has given parents a voice.”
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