Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner: Keep kids away from social media until they are ready

“To keep kids away until they're ready, I think that is the monumental circuit breaker move that we need to move to.”

Katy Watson speaks to Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner about the country’s social media ban for under 16s.

Brought up in Seattle, North America Julie has spent her career in the technology sector working for Microsoft, Twitter and Adobe in public policy and safety before moving into government. She moved to Australia more than 25 years ago and from 2017 Julie has been working on online safety. In her role as commissioner she’s become the target of free speech absolutists like Elon Musk, who’ve accused of her trying to censor the internet.

No stranger to controversy and abuse, she’s now the public face of Australia’s landmark social media ban for children under 16 which came into force in December.

Now countries around the world are considering similar bans as cases of online addiction, self harm and abuse are reportedly on the rise.

Thank you to Katy Watson and Dan Soekov for their help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations and Taiwan’s cyber ambassador Audrey Tang. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Katy Watson Producer(s): Dan Soekov, Clare Williamson, Farhana Haider Editor: Justine Lang

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(Image: Julie Inman Grant Credit: Reuters)