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As toxic industries pollute childhood, a call for action beyond social media bans

2 months ago
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Introduction by Croakey: Shocking, graphic reports from health professionals about how digital platforms are harming children and young people are detailed in a report recently released by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, representing 22 medical colleges and faculties in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The report, Growing up in the online world: a national consultation, was prepared for a UK Government consultation on proposals to ban social media for children, which also examines the impacts of Australia’s ban.

“There can be few issues which have united clinicians so resoundingly in recent years as the impact that unfettered exposure to tech and devices is currently having on children and young people’s health”, writes Dr Jeanette Dickson, Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, in the report’s foreword.

“It ranks alongside smoking and wearing seatbelts in cars as a unifying force for the medical profession.”

Also writing in the report, Professor Tracy Daszkiewicz, President of the Faculty of Public Health, highlights the powerful commercial forces involved.

“Children are being exposed to harmful content by design, with algorithm-driven systems built to maximise engagement, often amplifying exposure to cyberbullying, self-harm content, misinformation, harmful body ideals, and other damaging content,” she writes.

“These technologies are often driven by commercial incentives, and it is important to understand these powerful drivers. They represent a high-value market, creating a structural conflict between profitability and child wellbeing, a pattern public health has confronted before in industries such as tobacco, alcohol and gambling.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is promising “decisive action” to tackle such harms, while London Mayor Sir Sadiq says banning under-16s from social media is the only realistic way forward.

However, others are urging governments and companies to do more to make online platforms safer by design, and to enforce greater accountability from the companies involved.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, recently released ‘Ten key steps for regulations to protect children online’, including: “Require platforms to make digital environments safer by design – rather than placing the burden on children and parents.

“Regulations should require rights-respecting business practices, including by addressing addictive design (such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and persistent notifications) and tightly regulating online marketing targeting children.”

In a video, Türk said: “We need approaches that do more than block access for some children, while leaving behind platforms that remain unsafe for those who circumvent the bans and for the rest of us. Blanket social media bans are not a one off panacea for what is a multifaceted and complex issue.

“We need much wider action by governments and companies to ensure that the platforms themselves are made safer by design, that data is protected, that those responsible for harm can be held to account and that children’s rights and needs are fully respected throughout.”

Meanwhile, Professor Anna Peeters AM, CEO of VicHealth, calls below for national action beyond the social media ban, to ensure children have wider protection from harmful marketing through a federal Harmful Products Marketing Act.

Anna Peeters writes:

Few issues unite Australians like the desire to protect our kids.

The social media age restrictions for children come from a place many parents and carers understand: concern about what young people are seeing, who is targeting them, and how online platforms shape their wellbeing. It is a positive step that recognises children’s health must come first.

Importantly, the legislation includes a Digital Duty of Care – a principle designed to prevent harm before it occurs, and to hold platforms accountable for the environments they create. That’s a significant shift.

The proposed introduction of a Digital Duty of Care, as recommended in the statutory review of the Online Safety Act 2021 and announced by the Australian Government, acknowledges that big tech companies cannot simply host content and advertising without responsibility for the impacts on young people.

But if we’re serious about shielding children from harm, we also need to be clear about where that harm is coming from – and who is responsible for it.

A wider problem

A social media age restriction will limit access to some online platforms. It will not fix the deeper problem of harmful marketing that saturates Australian life – both online and offline.

Right now, gambling, alcohol and unhealthy food companies can fill our screens, sport, public transport and billboards with advertising for products we know cause harm. These companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year selling a glossy, idealised version of products linked to chronic disease and financial stress – encouraging us to gamble more, drink more and eat more unhealthy food to keep profits climbing.

Even if the social media age restriction is completely effective in removing children’s access to digital platforms, they would still see gambling odds embedded in weekend sport. They would still walk past fast food logos on the way to school. They would still watch alcohol brands wrapped around their favourite teams and players.

Harmful advertising does not begin and end with scrolling.

And it’s not just children. While you’re browsing online, watching the footy, or waiting for the train, these ads invade every inch of public space. Increasingly, companies collect and use vast amounts of personal data to tailor and target people with advertising designed to entice them back – including those trying to cut back on gambling, alcohol or unhealthy food.

This is where the Digital Duty of Care principle becomes even more powerful. If platforms have a responsibility to prevent foreseeable harm, then allowing invasive, data-driven marketing of harmful products should be part of that conversation. An opportunity exists for big tech companies to be held accountable not just for content, but for the advertising ecosystems they profit from.

At present, gambling, alcohol and unhealthy food industries are largely left to make their own rules about where, when and how they advertise. Without comprehensive protections, advertising simply shifts location, platform or format – but it does not disappear.

The social media age restriction is an important first step. The opportunity now is to extend that prevention mindset beyond platforms and into the broader marketing environment.

Steps are already being taken. The recent gambling harm reduction announcement from the Albanese Government outlines how regulations around sport, advertisement and free to air tv will be changed to protect children and young people. This signals a broader shift toward holding industries accountable for the way harmful products are promoted — not just where they appear. While public health experts are calling for stronger action, increased regulation of the industry is a positive step forward.

The good news is we know what works. Australia has faced down powerful industries before.

When the evidence became clear that tobacco advertising was driving enormous health harm, we acted. We removed cigarette ads from television, sport and billboards because we recognised that our health and wellbeing must come first. That decision helped change social norms, reduce smoking rates and save lives.

Vaping was another serious issue that required urgent action, with Australia introducing sweeping reforms in 2024 that are now starting to show signs of impact for young people.

Professor Anna Peeters AM: “Australia has faced down powerful industries before.”

Act on harmful marketing

The social media age restriction shows Australia is willing to act to protect young people online. Now is the moment to build on that leadership – to apply the same prevention principle to harmful marketing more broadly.

We’ve done it before. We can do it again.

VicHealth is backing calls for the Federal Government to introduce a Harmful Products Marketing Act – a big, positive step forward for health and wellbeing.

Through the ‘Give Us an Ad Break’ campaign, an initiative of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) in association with the Alliance for Gambling Reform, the Food for Health Alliance and VicHealth, this legislation would set clear, national rules about how gambling, alcohol and unhealthy food companies can promote their products.

It would prioritise health over profit. It would limit the invasive, data-driven targeting that follows people across platforms. And it would reduce children’s exposure to marketing for products we know are deeply unhealthy.

Imagine a future where you can scroll your feed without being followed by alcohol ads. Where weekend sport is about the game – not the odds. Where kids catch the bus without having fast food logos dominating the view. Where families trying to build healthy habits aren’t constantly swimming against a tide of commercial pressure.

Importantly, Australians are ready for this conversation. Four in five Australians say they want to see less advertising for gambling, alcohol and unhealthy food, and are concerned about the harm these ads cause.

Communities understand that our environments shape our behaviour. When unhealthy options are constantly normalised and glamorised, it becomes harder – not easier – to opt for wellbeing.

Everyone benefits from fewer ads for harmful products. Children grow up with healthier norms. People trying to cut back are not constantly triggered. Families face less pressure. Communities reduce preventable harm. And, we decrease pressure on our healthcare system.

This is a generational opportunity to shield our community from the onslaught of marketing from harmful industries. A chance to create environments that promote health and wellbeing. A chance to deliver change that will last decades.

We’ve shown before that when health is on the line, Australia can lead. Now is the time to do it again.

Legislate nationally, mandate compliance, enforce independently and penalise breaches is a model that ensures effective regulation in order to reduce community exposure to harmful product marketing.

If you believe our environments should be free from invasive advertising for products that harm our health, you can show your support by visiting giveusanadbreak.org.au and adding your voice.

• Professor Anna Peeters AM is CEO of VicHealth

Further reading

See Croakey’s archive of articles on the social media ban, on digital platforms, and on the commercial determinants of health