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As Australia's social media ban for under 16s draws closer, teenage business owners and artists have warned the ban could limit opportunities for young people. Isabelle Hedditch began using social media for more than just entertainment and socialising when she was 15. She was able to grow a dress hire business through posting on platforms like Instagram and TikTok before she finished school. "[Social media] was the way that I knew I could reach the most people, it was the easiest to set up, and it was the most cost-effective in terms of marketing and getting my products out there," she said. Now 19, Ms Hedditch is preparing to expand and pursue her venture full-time — something she believes she would not have been able to do without social media. "In the last year I know that 78 per cent of my traffic to my website has come directly from my Instagram," she said. "I think it really shows the importance and benefits of social media in building a business." The Brisbane teenager said she feared the social media ban would prevent other young people from exploring entrepreneurship. "The only other way I could think that you could start a business and grow your business without social media would be having a website and using things such as Google marketing," she said. The federal government's world-first social media ban — which was passed with bipartisan support — will come into effect on December 10. Under the legislation, anyone under the age limit will be banned from having accounts on platforms including Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat and Facebook. Social media companies will be required to take steps to ensure children are unable to have accounts on their platforms, and could be fined if they do not enforce the ban. The government said the ban was necessary to protect young people's health and wellbeing. It said the risks of social media, such as cyberbullying and harmful content, outweighed the positive aspects. 'It's definitely going to hurt' Asher Iyer is a 16-year-old rapper and producer, who also rents out his home studio to other artists in Brisbane. He started posting his music to social media when he was 12 and has since gained thousands of followers and a growing list of performance opportunities. He said having a social media presence was "one of the most important things" for anyone trying to break into the music industry. "Record labels nowadays … they're making sure the artist they pick to sign to their labels will have some success, and the only way to really determine that is if they've already had some sort of success," he said. Although he was over the ban's age limit, Mr Iyer expected a drop in engagement from his audience and his studio clients, many of whom were aged under 16. "There's a lot of under-16s in this Brisbane music scene … if they're not seeing my videos … it's definitely going to hurt who I can work with," he said. Businesses to pursue alternative marketing Shasha Wang from the QUT School of Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations said businesses would need to begin prioritising other communication channels to reach teenagers. "There are lots of games and streaming services [and] of course we already have website or email," Dr Wang said. "Organisations are already doing integrated communication … it's just a matter of [shifting] more proportion to those ones." But she said teenage business owners may not have the resources to pursue the alternative marketing channels. "Large organisations or businesses can do all the other integrated communication … but for small start-ups and for young entrepreneurs it creates a barrier," she said. Coby Lee is the Young Entrepreneurs Hub program coordinator at BOP Industries; an entrepreneur education provider based in Brisbane. "It's the 21st century, businesses can no longer just be in the Yellow Pages books; they can no longer just exist with a physical storefront," she said. While she believed the ban would be a setback, she had some optimism, saying young entrepreneurs were "always going to find a way to do something". No exceptions for entrepreneurs A spokesperson for Communications Minister Anika Wells said the government expected all accounts held by under 16s to be deactivated by platforms. "[Under 16s] will be able to continue to access messaging apps, online gaming, professional networking and development services … to engage with their peers, learn and be creative online," they said. "The new law was developed in close consultation with young people … industry, and community and civil society organisations." The government has rolled out a national education campaign to help young people navigate the changes. The full list of platforms that will be included in the ban is yet to be finalised.
