{"id":839626,"date":"2025-10-18T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=839626"},"modified":"2025-10-17T17:41:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T15:41:11","slug":"social-media-ban-possible-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/technology\/839626\/social-media-ban-possible-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Social media ban possible in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Digital law expert Emma Sadleir noted that banning teens from Social media is possible in South Africa, with her company busying drafting a bill, but admits that enforcement will be the biggest challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia is set to ban under-16s from using social media from December unless platforms can verify users\u2019 ages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadleir, founder of The Digital Law Company, explained<\/a> that they introduced the law at the end of last year, with an effective date of 10 December this year, to give tech companies a year to figure out how they will comply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She believes the law is legally sound but admits it will be hard to implement. \u201cFrom a big-picture point of view, I\u2019m delighted,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea that the age of internet adulthood should be 13 is mad. Anyone with a 13-year-old knows that\u2019s the age they should be kept off social media, not on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadleir said the move should be welcomed because it starts an important conversation between parents and children about what age is appropriate for social media. \u201cWe know there will be workarounds, but at least it gets people talking,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She compared it to South Africa\u2019s alcohol laws. \u201cIt\u2019s like banning alcohol under 18; we know some teens will still get it, but it creates a social norm,\u201d Sadleir said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt least society agrees that kids shouldn\u2019t be drinking. Right now, parents face pressure because their children say they\u2019re the only ones not on the app. No one wants their child left out, and that\u2019s often why parents give in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadleir said the ban could help shift those norms. \u201cIf we can move towards the idea that social media isn\u2019t appropriate for young kids, that would be a big win,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m the first responder when things go wrong with children online in South Africa, and it\u2019s going horribly wrong. The average age of first exposure to pornography is about nine years old. Children are scrolling TikTok and YouTube late into the night, and it\u2019s damaging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar law could work in South Africa <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She pointed to France, which is also tightening its rules. \u201cThey\u2019re looking at digital curfews for teenagers\u2014no social media between 22h00. and 06h00.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They\u2019re also banning phones in schools and even proposing a new crime of \u2018digital negligence\u2019 for parents who let their children be raised by their devices. I think that\u2019s brilliant,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Sadleir warned that teenagers will always find ways to circumvent restrictions. \u201cWhen the UK introduced its Online Safety Act, VPN downloads shot up by 1,400% in a week,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere will always be workarounds\u2014fake IDs, old masks for facial recognition, whatever it takes.\u201d Australia\u2019s law provides companies with three options for verifying users\u2019 ages: facial scanning, submitting official identification, or estimating age based on data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNone of these are perfect, but at least governments are finally saying enough is enough. Our children are being exposed to toxic, addictive, and harmful content\u2014especially on TikTok. I see it every day,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadleir also supports the idea of making companies, not children, responsible. \u201cIn South Africa, if a teenager buys alcohol, the teenager is breaking the law,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Australia, if a child accesses social media, it\u2019s the company that\u2019s in trouble. They can be fined up to 30 million Australian dollars. I love that \u2014 it forces the platforms to take responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for South Africa, Sadleir believes a similar legislation could work, and her firm has even begun drafting a proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Sadleir warned that enforcement would be the biggest challenge. \u201cI don\u2019t think it would face serious constitutional hurdles. I think it would pass constitutional muster,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe problem is international tech companies don\u2019t take South African law seriously. When regulators ask WhatsApp, TikTok or Snapchat how they\u2019re complying with POPIA, they don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until the government is willing to take a stronger stance, she said, enforcement will remain impossible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnless South Africa is prepared to say, \u2018If you don\u2019t follow our laws, we\u2019ll cut you off,\u2019 these companies will just keep doing whatever they want.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Digital law expert Emma Sadleir noted that banning teens from Social media is possible in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":839627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9878],"tags":[69,853,23792],"class_list":["post-839626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-social-media","tag-south-africa","tag-the-digital-law-company"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839626"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":839630,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839626\/revisions\/839630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}