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Global News Podcast

Australia bans social media for under-16s

09 Dec 2025

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 3.696 Oliver Conway

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

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6.055 - 30.346 Unknown

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30.986 - 60.008 Unknown

Explore what the Charterholder advantage looks like at cfainstitute.org. You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

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61.372 - 78.503 Oliver Conway

Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 16 Hours GMT on Tuesday 9th December. Australia becomes the first nation in the world to ban under-16s from social media. The Sudanese army is accused of killing nearly 1,700 civilians in airstrikes.

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78.483 - 86.755 Mark Snook

The aftermath footage of hits in markets is often quite hard to watch because there's often also children among the victims as well.

87.416 - 92.122 Oliver Conway

And the EU investigates Google over the use of creative content to train AI.

95.307 - 104.179 Darren Edwards

Also in the podcast... Looking out for things like frostbite or hypothermia. There's so much that has never been done by somebody with a spinal injury, so we're kind of leading the way.

104.2 - 133.606 Oliver Conway

The challenges of a world record attempt in Antarctica... As we record this podcast, Australia has become the first nation in the world to ban anyone under the age of 16 from using social media. A law which came into effect at midnight local time requires apps like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to block access under the threat of large fines. Existing profiles will be deactivated.

133.626 - 137.751 Oliver Conway

14-year-old Sophia from Brisbane was one of the first to get locked out.

Chapter 2: What is the significance of Australia's ban on social media for under-16s?

386.765 - 393.092 Sophia

You know, it took hours to drive to this farm. The driveway itself just to get to the farmhouse was about 20 kilometres.

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393.673 - 416.088 Oliver Conway

And from as far as I can see, there is nothing in the distance. It's completely flat land, low scrub land, a few bushes, a few trees, but it's pretty barren. And the earth underfoot is very dry and the rains aren't expected to come in for at least another month or so. This isn't your typical teenage upbringing, cleaning out cattle troughs.

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416.59 - 437.461 Oliver Conway

But in so many ways, life in Australia's vast outback is surprisingly normal. On the back of her buggy, Brianna's got an internet extender, giving her much-needed connections far from her friends. Connections that might now look a little shakier than before with the new van in place.

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438.122 - 460.803 Sophia

I use Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and basically to just... Keep up with my friends, share what I'm doing in my day-to-day life, especially on the holidays. My closest friend is 30km away, but all my other friends would be over 100km away. It's very important for me to keep up with them, stay in contact with them. Taking away our socials is just taking away how we talk to each other.

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461.064 - 472.74 Oliver Conway

Remember when I sent you that little video of Truffle helping me muster and it was just really funny, you know, you can just share... While mum Megan is glad social media companies are being forced to be more responsible, she's not sure how much it will achieve.

473.2 - 480.929 Sophia

I do think that it is a bit of government overstepping. We might be incredibly geographically isolated but we're definitely not digitally illiterate.

480.949 - 496.125 Oliver Conway

I think they'll still find apps and avenues to talk. I do get concerned though that if they think they're not supposed to be there, will they still report if they come across an online predator or they do experience bullying when they know they probably shouldn't be there?

496.223 - 499.567 Sophia

What just happened, Grace? I just got banned off Instagram.

499.587 - 511.119 Oliver Conway

Meta, though, has been getting ahead of the curve, booting off some young Australian teens before the restrictions officially started. Grace, who's heading off on a summer road trip with her family, is not happy.

Chapter 3: What challenges do social media companies face in complying with the new law?

1194.304 - 1197.197 Katie Watson

Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

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1200.923 - 1220.441 Oliver Conway

Hello, Greg Jenner here, host of You're Dead to Me. In my new family-friendly podcast series, Dead Funny History, historical figures come back to life for just about long enough to argue with me, tell us their life stories and sometimes get on my nerves. There's 15 lovely episodes to unwrap, including the life of Ramses the Great, Josephine Baker and the history of football, plus much, much more.

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1220.782 - 1229.85 Oliver Conway

So this Christmas, give your ears a treat with Dead Funny History. You can find it in the You're Dead to Me feed on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

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1230.472 - 1234.338 Katie Watson

Discover brilliant podcasts from the BBC World Service.

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1234.938 - 1240.266 Unknown

We got a call from the bank and said, are you aware that there's no funds in this account?

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1251.783 - 1254.066 Unknown

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1254.046 - 1263.631 Oliver Conway

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1263.952 - 1268.764 Katie Watson

Listen now. Search for Cyberhack wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

Chapter 4: What are the implications of the social media ban for communication among teenagers?

1317.403 - 1339.324 Oliver Conway

They're not looking at the original article, which means the publishers lose the traffic. They lose all the advertising revenue and people are no longer encouraged to subscribe to their publications. But what really adds insult to injury is not only are they losing all that, those viewers, the AI that Google is using learned everything it knows by reading those online articles.

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1339.385 - 1357.892 Oliver Conway

And as the publishers see it from stealing that information, I mean, it's a bit like a pop star being told, sorry, we're not going to pay you for performing anymore. But thanks very much for teaching our computer how to sing your songs. Now, Google's parent company is also accused of harvesting material that people upload to YouTube, which they also own.

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1358.372 - 1379.023 Oliver Conway

And in all of these cases, they say people don't have the chance to opt out of having their material exploited. So the EU is investigating this. What does Google say about it? We've had a statement from their parent company, Alphabet. They say Europeans deserve to benefit from the latest technologies and the EU's investigation risks stifling innovation.

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1379.664 - 1403.541 Oliver Conway

Effectively, what it seems to be saying is that the current system benefits consumers of information. The allegation is they're less concerned with the people who produce it. And this is just the latest in a series of EU cases involving US tech companies. Indeed. I mean, only a few days ago, the platform X was fined $140 million by the European Union because of its blue tick system.

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1403.561 - 1421.639 Oliver Conway

You can pay X to get a blue tick on your account, which shows that it's genuine. What the EU said is actually these accounts aren't properly verified and the blue tick gives a false sense of safety. But yes, this is just one of many investigations and legal cases. And I should say this is becoming very political.

1421.679 - 1443.901 Oliver Conway

I mean, the current administration in Washington is no great fan of the European Union generally. but it particularly dislikes any attempt to regulate and to fine America's tech giants. Speaking about the fine on X, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said this was foreign governments attacking American companies. In fact, he said it was an attack on the American people.

1443.961 - 1459.431 Oliver Conway

I mean, it does seem that the rhetoric in these disputes can only get more colourful the temperature ever higher. Our global affairs reporter, Paul Moss. Ukraine's armed forces insist they are still holding out in Pokrovsk, despite Russian claims to have taken the city.

1459.972 - 1489.442 Oliver Conway

Russia has been advancing on Pokrovsk for more than a year as part of its campaign to seize the whole of the eastern region of Donetsk. Our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale has been talking to Ukrainian troops still fighting to hold back the invaders. This is what it's like fighting in Pokrovsk. what the men of Ukraine's Skala Assault Regiment are facing.

1489.462 - 1500.846 Oliver Conway

Hiding from the constant menace of Russian drones. The threat that 48-year-old Hotabich had to endure for nearly 30 days.

Chapter 5: How does the Australian government's social media ban compare to international responses?

1506.498 - 1517.155 Hotabich

There are a lot of drones there. They fly around the clock. We always wished for good weather, meaning fog or some rain, a grey sky, because at such times we could resupply and reinforce our positions.

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1520.239 - 1550.644 Oliver Conway

His unit's coordinating the fight from a command centre well behind the front line. Ukrainian drones flying above Pokrovsk show a city in ruins, but they want to prove Pokrovsk has not fallen, despite Russian claims to have taken the city. They've been talking to their men on the ground in Pokrovsk to show us they are there still fighting. He's just giving orders for them to show their flag.

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1551.063 - 1552.926 Oliver Conway

And there it is. You can see it now.

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1553.206 - 1562.862 Yuri

The commander of the Skala regiment, Yuri, tells me it exposes another Kremlin lie, that Ukraine's lost Pokrovsk.

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1564.845 - 1588.731 Oliver Conway

You've seen it with your own eyes. If we do not show this, the whole world will lose faith and stop helping the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian army. That is why we are doing this, to prove we're still strong. A staff officer called Simon Potapich shows me where Ukrainian forces are still defending in the north of the city.

1589.048 - 1613.454 Oliver Conway

So there's a map here, a digital map, which has Ukrainian positions around Bukrovsk. And there are a few red spots, targets that they're going to hit here where Russian forces are present. But you can still clearly see from this map that Ukrainian troops are still in the city in numbers. We're told hundreds. The focus here is on the fight, not peace talks.

1614.216 - 1620.612 Oliver Conway

But a Latvian volunteer, the unit's deputy commander, is willing to vent some frustration.

1621.013 - 1643.35 Hotabich

His call sign is the Godfather, and he has a message for Europe and America. I wish Steve Vitkov to be together with President Trump, who is a strong leader, and show that America is number one in military, and showing weakness to Russians is showing weakness of America and Trump. So I hope Trump is siding with democratic countries and with NATO countries.

1643.691 - 1649.92 Hotabich

Europe is a lot of talking, a lot of bureaucracy, and a lot of empty, empty talks and not enough doing.

Chapter 6: How are Australian teenagers reacting to the social media ban?

1869.173 - 1870.535 Oliver Conway

Tanya Sanger reports.

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1871.456 - 1878.584 Mickey Bristow

Training in Arctic conditions in Norway as Darren, who in his own words, is redefining the impossible.

0

1879.125 - 1888.376 Oliver Conway

He's aiming to travel 222 kilometres in 20 days to double the current world record of sit skiing to the South Pole.

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1888.756 - 1897.527 Darren Edwards

We've dedicated two and a half years of our lives to do it and for me there's pressure of how's it going to go? Are we going to succeed? We've promised a lot of people we're going to do it.

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1897.793 - 1915.519 Oliver Conway

Darren became permanently paralysed from the chest down after a climbing accident in 2016, but turned his misfortune into his superpower by taking on a number of record-breaking challenges over the years. But this one will be his toughest yet.

1915.92 - 1926.315 Darren Edwards

After my accident, I can't feel below my chest. So when we're looking out for things like frostbite or hypothermia, there's so much that has never been done by somebody with a spinal injury, so we're kind of leading the way.

1926.38 - 1938.498 Mickey Bristow

He's designed a bespoke sit ski to help keep his lower half warm with the help of his teammate Matthew, who's been inspired by Darren's story after suffering his own sports injury.

1938.758 - 1952.478 Darren Edwards

I met Darren in a gym. We got chatting and he kind of helped me through, guided me through that process of refinding myself, getting myself back on my feet. And a great example of that there is hope after the adversity.

1953.439 - 1972.418 Oliver Conway

Matthew Bigger, ending that report by Tanya Sanker. And that is all from us for now, but the Global News Podcast will be back very soon. This edition was mixed by Daniela Varela-Hernandez and produced by Stephanie Zachrisson and Mickey Bristow. Our editor is Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye.

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