Work

The anxiety of age: Moral panics over children’s social media use as a tool to regulate

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Throughout 2023 and 2024, in the lead up to the introduction of Australia’s social media age-restriction laws, calls to ban teenagers’ access to social media were widely reported by Australian news media. This media moment was in part driven by moves by governments of a range of countries to take action to address the harmful effects of social media on young people, high profile, popular academic books such as Haidt’s The Anxious Generation (2024), and parent-led campaigns advocating delayed access to social media based on age. This paper analyses Australian news media headlines from September 2023 to September 2024, drawing on theories regarding moral and media panics (Cohen, 2011; Drotner, 1992; McRobbie & Thornton, 1995), to understand the character and purpose of the Australian news discourse preceding the passage of the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill in November, 2024. It finds that the media coverage met Goode and Ben-Yehuda’s (1994) criteria of a moral panic, reproducing certain constructions of childhood and supporting government efforts to impose age-based restrictions to social media. In doing so, however, it constrained alternative policy approaches, particularly those that might better account for the diversity of young people's maturity and offer ways to create safer online environments and experiences for all.

Source: Convergence The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies

DOI: 10.1177/13548565261451511

Authors: Justine Humphry, Catherine Page Jeffery, Jonathon Hutchinson

Institution: The University of Sydney

Language: English

Topic: Crime, Deviance, and Social Control

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650