高清福利片

In November, the Australian government聽聽a plan to ban children under the age of 16 from social media. Yesterday the bill passed the House of Representatives, and it will now go to Senate to finalise it into Australian law. If the bill becomes law this week, social media platforms will have one year to implement the age restrictions.

奥丑颈濒别听听补苍诲听聽support the ban, the move has also been widely challenged聽听补苍诲听.

One key criticism of the bill is its broad definition of social media, delegating to the Communications Minister of the day extraordinary power to ban children from any social online platform.

, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland suggested the ban would include platforms such as TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. At the time, the Minister said an exemption would be considered for some services, such as YouTube Kids.

Briefly, Snapchat was in scope because it could be defined , not social media. But, it has been confirmed that . YouTube 鈥� despite having all the same characteristics of social media as the included sites 鈥� has escaped the ban, thanks in part due to.

This lack of clarity is worrying.

We are concerned that online games like Minecraft, Fortnite and Roblox could fall under the broad scope of the powers in this ban, because people can communicate with others on these platforms. Platforms like Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network would potentially be in scope, too

As experts in children鈥檚 online play, we argue it would be a mistake to ban children from social games. Games are crucial to children鈥檚 social lives and learning, and for their personal growth and identity development.

Games are widely popular, and聽聽play videogames regularly.聽聽play Minecraft at least once a month. Children and young people聽聽about their online gameplay.

In a聽, over three-quarters of young gamers indicated that 鈥済aming had helped them with skill development, such as learning something new, using digital technologies, solving problems and thinking faster鈥�.

Minecraft has received particular attention for fostering creativity, collaboration and socially connecting young people.

In 2021, the Minecraft: Education Edition was being聽, including Australia. This version of the game contains free lessons on various subjects. In a聽, researchers found children who learned with Minecraft: Education Edition 鈥渙verwhelmingly identified themselves as better mathematics students鈥�.

, which is critical for children鈥檚 identity formation, social lives and imagination. For instance, playing as a different character in an online game is an important聽. (It鈥檚 valuable for聽.)

Two decades of research have also shown us that children derive enormous social benefits from playing digital games with other people. In a 2015 report by the Pew Research Center,聽聽said online games help them feel more connected to their friends.

础听聽concluded that videogames can boost children鈥檚 wellbeing by making them feel competent, empowered and socially connected to others.

This is particularly important for vulnerable children. For instance,聽, a parent-created Minecraft server for neurodivergent children, has been enormously successful in providing children with a comfortable and safe digital space to socially connect with their peers.

However, games are not always safe spaces for young people.

Gaming culture is pervasively聽, and games have played a role in聽聽by promoting聽.

Gaming platforms like Roblox 鈥� where over half of players are under the age of 13 鈥� have also come under fire for not doing enough to protect their users聽.

Increasingly, we鈥檙e also seeing the聽. In recent years,聽聽such as聽聽have become normalised.

In Australia,聽聽banned 鈥渋n-game purchases with an element of chance鈥� for children under 15. According to the definition, these are 鈥渕ystery items players can use real money to buy, without knowing what item they will get鈥�.

Incidentally, this decision demonstrates the ineffectiveness of blanket ban approaches. According to our yet-to-be-published research, numerous games with paid chance-based features such as lootboxes remain available on storefronts like Apple鈥檚 App Store, despite not complying with the new regulations.

Just as all internet use isn鈥檛 bad, all games aren鈥檛 bad either. Parents may feel overwhelmed and under-informed about the videogames their children play, but bans can be easily circumvented. Australia鈥檚 eSafety Commissioner聽聽鈥渟ome young people will access social media in secrecy鈥�.

As we argued of the social media ban, 鈥渃hildren鈥檚 social media use will become more private, more hidden from those able to support children to navigate the online world.鈥�

The risk is that a ban will take away the onus on these platforms to make them safer for children. Why design for users who aren鈥檛 legally allowed to be on the platform?

The government should be working in partnership with social media and online gaming platforms to ensure they聽, while allowing children the freedom to play and to access safer and richer digital lives.

Professor Marcus Carter is a researcher in digital cultures and human-computer interaction. He is currently director of the聽Sydney Games and Play Lab, and his research projects focus on gaming content creators, children鈥檚 digital play, and mixed reality technologies. Taylor Hardwick is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Sydney researching children's digital play. This is an edited version of a story first published in . Hero photo:聽PA/Alamy/AAP.