Leonardo Puglisi was only 11 years old when he founded 6News Australia six years ago. Now one of the best-known media organisations in the country, there’s no doubt that social media – and access to social media – has played a huge part in its success.

As landmark legislation banning all under-16s from social media comes into effect on December 10, Puglisi is among those concerned it will create a disconnect for young people in more ways than one.

“The simple thing is if this ban was in place a few years ago, whether it’s when we started or a few years down the line, 6News just wouldn’t have existed in the first place” he says.

The Australian Government’s decision to ban under-16s from social media didn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of mounting concerns over the impact of digital platforms on children’s mental health, safety and development.

A 2023 parliamentary report on digital harm to children highlighted links between social media use and deteriorating mental health, as well as the ease with which young users could be exposed to harmful content or online predators.

For some, this legislation is seen as a protective measure, one that is supposed to shield children from the dangers of online activity, such as cyberbullying, scammers and the addictive pull of doomscrolling.

For Puglisi and many others, it represents a silencing of voices and a stifling of opportunities. “Given all the work we’ve been able to do over the last six years, all the stories we’ve broken, all the interviews we’ve done, it would’ve been a real missed opportunity,” he says.

Young Australians have long used social media for more than just entertainment. It has been a stage for ideas, art and activism. These platforms, for all their faults, have served many as the stepping stones into wider worlds. Some fear a ban risks cutting off those steps entirely.

Isaac Mulcrone, 24, founder of YouthJam Radio, believes the consequences will be profound.

“YouthJam wouldn’t have thrived if this ban was in place, particularly on the apps young people use, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok – the very platforms where creativity and connection happen,” he says. “If anyone wanted to follow the footsteps of people like me and Leo Puglisi, good luck to you, because the odds are against you now.”

Briana Lettieri, a paediatric occupational therapist for Kids are Kids, says a lot of the risks associated with social media and internet usage comes down to parental supervision.

“You can definitely tell the difference between kids that have been having those discussions about safe social media usage, whether it’s with their parents or through school, versus those who have had zero discussion about safety online,” she says.

Banning platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube may seem like a way to protect children from harm on social media, but there are concerns it will end up pushing them towards darker, even less moderated corners of the internet.

“What this ban doesn’t do is take this dangerous content off the internet,” Mulcrone says. “So whatever people are encountering on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, they’re just going to find elsewhere.”

Mulcrone compares this ban to the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s, with social media platforms like the speakeasies of today.

“Prohibition has never worked in its history. Look at the US back in the 1920s with alcohol,” he says. “Everyone went underground to drink it then and this ban is going to send people underground now.”

Like Puglisi, Mulcrone also started young, founding YouthJam at 15. The program operates 24/7 with podcast news and radio, catering to an audience of 12 to 25 year olds.

If a ban had been in place back then, Mulcrone says not only would he not have been able to start YouthJam, a large chunk of his audience would be excluded.

“Unless we bombarded people with flyers and spent a gazillion dollars, which isn’t exactly attainable, we would never be able to even communicate the fact that YouthJam exists,” he says.

Others say not only are creative endeavours at risk of being cut off, but also the communities and bonds that so many young people rely on through social media.

Artist and small business owner Lachlan Williams, 20, believes he owes a lot of his growth to social media, saying the internet played a huge part in his formative years.

“The internet has created a unique space that fosters niche interests in the form of communities on different platforms.” he says. “For so long it allowed these communities to grow in a way that they simply wouldn’t have been able to without the internet.”

Williams recently started Sketchy Business, an art market in North Fremantle for young Perth creatives. The project, promoted primarily through social media, was inspired by others the artist had seen on social media.

For many teenagers, the ability to participate in conversations, whether about politics, music, culture, or just chat with friends, is tied to the social media platforms that they grew up with. Will losing access to them risk cutting young people off from their peers and the wider national dialogue?

“As strange as it is to say, a lot of my current-day friendships have been built on social media and internet culture,” Williams says.

December 10 is the beginning of an experiment. Will the ban achieve its aim of keeping children safe. or will it leave them unprepared to navigate a digital world they will inevitably enter once they turn 16?

Lettieri believes it will be the latter. “Having these kinds of restrictions takes away the opportunity for kids to learn and, apart from that, it takes away social opportunities and connections that young people might make,” she says.

Experts agree these platforms require stronger moderation and accountability, and more resources should be allocated to educating people about social media. But in an attempt to safeguard Australia’s youngest citizens, many fear the government risks silencing them instead.