Banning Australians who are under 16 from social media has one obvious and immediate side-effect: political outrage.
As the only young people in the world about to be denied access to social media, Australian kids will swiftly assign blame. These kids are not stupid and political parties can be assured they will remember who to punish once they reach voting age in a few short years.
While it is tempting for conservatives to stand around and cheer as Anthony Albanese tosses the future of the Labor Party into the fire, it would be wrong to think the Liberal Party will be the beneficiary of this decision.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is currently standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Albanese over this policy, hoping to see it formalised as early as Christmas.
Australian children will see the two major parties as an iron wall standing in the way of their friendship groups. For a generation trained to perceive themselves as victims, they will naturally view these political parties as their oppressors.
When our kids cross the age threshold and obtain the power to vote, they will not vote red and they will not vote blue.
Having already been indoctrinated into the eco-fascist cult of Climate Change thanks to a school system saturated with left-wing activism, these kids are most likely to throw their political support behind the Greens.
Yes.
In betraying the principles of the Liberal Party, the net result of Peter Dutton’s experimentation with censorship will be the creation of a devout Green movement of young revolutionaries with an axe to grind.
Unlike the fake climate cult which most kids will grow out of when they start paying tax, digital censorship and government overreach are very real and their influence will persist in our political system.
The mistake is enormous.
Adam Bandt, Leader of the Australian Greens, tweeted (in response the the US election outcome):
‘Politics doesn’t start and end at the ballot box. It happens in our neighbourhoods, schools, workplaces, homes, and on the streets every single day. Today we should ask ourselves what we’re willing to do for the change we need.’
Allowing young people online does not mean that the Greens are supporters of free speech. Traditionally they have spoken fondly of regulation while globally the Green-Left movements within other nations have been the most enthusiastic when it comes to the censoring of political speech. There is logic here. In order to influence young minds in favour of political ideas, the medium has to exist. Silence isn’t particularly useful for those who are not in power.
In September, after the under 16 ban was floated, Mr Bandt added:
‘So under Labor, teenagers can go to jail but can’t go on TikTok. Of course, they will still be able to watch gambling ads online and live in poverty. I know parents are worried, I worry about my own kids too. But you don’t stop children from drowning by banning swimming. You teach them to swim safely and know the dangers.’
In one interview a Greens senator said that rather than banning people, we (the government) should be making these platforms safer, increasing responsibility for the platform owners, regulating them, and protecting young people from the insidious nature of the social media business model. The Greens went on to praise the European Union and their regulations. None of this is a good sign, but it is doubtful young people will notice the fine detail of the Greens approach to free speech when all they are interested is getting back in touch with their friends.
For political activists, social media is a tool. There are probably conservatives nodding their heads thinking see, this is why we need to ban it! But banning social media does not protect children from politics when the radical activists are in the classrooms and embedded in every single school subject. As it stands, social media is often the only opportunity that school-aged children have to be exposed to information that contradicts their insular and intense political indoctrination.
We know from the recent American election that the promotion of free speech online via the unleashing of Elon Musk’s X from the clutches of Silicon Valley brought about the largest political landslide in living memory.
Digital free speech is, as far as we know, the only successful way to combat the powerful propaganda put out by the Left.
The first victim of free speech was Kamala Harris and the Democrats.
The Australian Labor Party would have been next on the chopping block if not for the decision of the Liberals to make themselves indistinguishable at the voting box.
Did the Liberal Party do any research on the rise of Trump thanks to social media?
Did they ask how Trump managed to motivate the youth in favour of conservatism when no one else in the world has managed it?
Go to your local conservative Liberal Party event. Count how many people are under 50. If it is not net zero, it is mighty close.
With no youth, there is no future for the party.
Enthusiasm for the Liberals among the young is at an all-time low, and the Young Liberals have done a poor job of presenting themselves as serious heirs to the memory of Menzies.
Young people are slowly moving into the minor conservative parties and those parties deserve their vote, having consistently legislated in the interest of freedom.
But the masses, the vast majority of angry children who want to seek revenge on the government, are destined for the Green embrace.
Ask yourself, is a Green future for Australia a price we are willing to pay because some parents want the government to help parent their children?
These are very dangerous games to play with the future of liberty.
One final point, has anyone asked the government why their first instinct is to punish every innocent child and the entire adult population of the country instead of (at least attempting) to crack down on the actual school-aged bullies being used as an excuse for this bill?
Shouldn’t they try introducing holiday community service punishments for bullies? Mandatory military service for the worst offenders? Heck, why not ban the bullies from owning a smart phone?
Hello? Is anyone listening?