EXCLUSIVE
Kyle Sandilands has criticized Anthony Albanese for his divisive new restrictions on social media, insisting it is not the Prime Minister’s job to tell parents how to raise their children.
The top-rated radio king and new father told Daily Mail Australia the government needed to stop wasting time with its ill-conceived “nanny state” legislation, which includes a ban on under-16s accessing social networks and the so-called “disinformation” laws.
Instead, he said the prime minister needed to force social media companies to take full responsibility for “eliminating evil on their platforms.”
“I absolutely want children to be protected, I don’t want a single child to be harassed, but banning social media is not the way to do it,” she said.
‘I’m not sure why the government suddenly thinks it should raise people’s children for them.
“Parents should be the ones to decide which social media platforms their children use.”
Sandilands’ blunt assessment comes after the Albanian government presented the controversial legislation to parliament on Thursday.
Radio titan Kyle Sandilands has warned Anthony Albanese that it is not his job to tell parents how to raise their children and says the government’s ill-conceived age restrictions on social media must be fully explored before they are rushed to be approved in the Senate.
Anthony Albanese is friends with Kyle Sandilands and even met his young son Otto, but that hasn’t stopped the radio star from offering a brutal assessment of his bill proposals.
If passed, the new laws will prevent children under 16 from using Snapchat, Facebook, TikTok, X and Instagram, while other social media sites, such as YouTube, WhatsApp and Messenger Kids, will remain unrestricted.
Under the world-first proposal, social media sites would face fines of up to $50 million for failing to take “reasonable steps” to keep minors off their platforms, although details on how the ban would be effectively implemented are scarce.
Although Sandilands’ hit breakfast show Kyle and Jackie O is famous for its free-flowing comedy. He said it was important to stop and have a serious conversation about the bills before they are passed in the Senate.
He said he appreciated the motivation behind the laws, but cautioned that telling teenagers what they “can and can’t do” would be it simply forces Internet-savvy young people to surreptitiously access the sites.
“While I understand they want these laws to protect those who have succumbed to the dark side of social media, it should be the social media companies themselves who are responsible for rooting out the evil on their platforms,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Social media restrictions only encourage children to seek out what is prohibited and to do so in a secret and unregulated manner.
‘Every child knows how to use a VPN. Any kind of ban is absolutely useless.
‘The solution is to hold social media companies responsible for what is on their platforms.
Albanese at Sandilands wedding with radio co-star Jackie O
The popular king of breakfast radio says the proposed age restrictions will simply force Internet-savvy minors to break laws and secretly access social networking sites.
‘If these companies can get rich from advertising to Australians, they can also protect Australian children from bullies and scams.
‘There needs to be more focus on social media companies properly policing their platforms and less on Australians being told what they can and cannot do.
‘Why are 16 and 17 year olds exempt from these laws? They remain as vulnerable as minors like anyone else.
The radio and TV star has been a long-time friend of the Prime Minister, and Albanese even attended his star-studded wedding last year to Tegan Kynaston, with whom Sandilands shares a beautiful young son, Otto.
Despite his close connection to the nation’s leader, Sandilands has not been afraid to criticize his government for its social media ban or its proposals for “disinformation laws”, warning that they risked endangering the right of ordinary Australians to freedom of expression.
That legislation will allow the Australian Communications and Media Authority to impose massive fines on social media companies that fail to take appropriate action against users who post “misinformation” and “disinformation” on their pages.
“Disinformation laws sound like a great idea as a headline, but when you get down to it, who really decides what is misinformation?” Sandilands told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Many issues are not simply black and white. All topics require healthy and respectful debate, which should not be closed off by laws that repress freedom of expression.
“Sharing information is how we all grow as human beings.”
Sandilands’ views have been supported by the Australian Human Rights Commission, which has also expressed concerns about the extent of social media restrictions by the Albanian government.
“Given the potential for these laws to significantly interfere with the rights of children and young people, the Commission has serious reservations about the proposed social media ban,” it said in a statement.
‘The social media ban is designed to protect children and young people from online harm and the negative impact social media is having on their wellbeing.
‘However, such a social media ban is also likely to have negative consequences for the human rights of children and young people.
‘There are arguments for and against introducing a social media ban for under-16s. While a ban can help protect children and young people from online harm, it will also limit important human rights.
“Based on information currently available, the Australian Human Rights Commission has serious reservations about the proposed social media ban for children under 16.”
Introducing the bill in the House of Representatives on Thursday, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the laws would help parents resist their children’s desire to access social media.
“The legislation put forward by the Albanian government is intended, in the most fundamental sense, to help families when they sit down at the kitchen table and have that difficult conversation about access to social media,” he said.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland introduces the divisive bill on Thursday.
“Our laws will allow parents to say no.”
Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman offered bipartisan support for the bill, describing “the safety of Australian children online from social media as one of the defining issues of our era.”
“It is of titanic importance for our community,” he said.
“Social media companies have for too long abrogated their responsibility to care about Australian children.”