Thursday, 12 September 2024

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:58): For most of us, discovering the people in charge do not really know what they are doing is a harsh lesson reserved for later in life, but our kids are growing up faster than ever these days, because this is a harsh lesson they are learning right now. First we had governments in Victoria locking them out of their school, taping off their playgrounds and putting sand on their skateboard ramps, but now authoritarians from every major party want to ban their social media. The masterminds who believe they are going to control the internet are the same kinds of people who were convinced the COVIDSafe app would stop the pandemic. When kids hear them talking about controlling Facebook and X it is a joke, because they actually prefer platforms like YouTube and Discord. We also know governments are just as inept at protecting our privacy as they are at controlling the internet, and we should be very wary of digital IDs. Authoritarians want to protect children from social media. The Libertarian Party believe we should protect children from authoritarians. We know prohibition does not work. We believe kids are not stupid, and we believe families are the best people to decide about their access to social media. My advice for kids and parents is to have a conversation about getting a virtual private network and, while you are at it, a conversation about the dangers of big government.