‘Grand social experiment’: Australia’s social media ban turns heads globally, with mixed results

The BBC blogged about it, News Corp boasted about it and the New York Times questioned its effectiveness.

Australia’s world-first laws stopping children accessing social media until they turn 16 turned heads globally, with mixed and nuanced results.

In the UK, the BBC ran a live blog canvassing the views of teenagers, exploring how success will be judged and hearing from critics who suggested the ban could “isolate vulnerable teenagers and push children into unregulated corners of the internet”.

In the Times , the former Conservative education minister Lord John Nash wrote that Australia was taking a “brave stand” alongside Malaysia and other countries looking at similar bans. He is pushing for the UK to adopt the Australian model.

News agency Reuters summarised moves afoot in Bri