Welcome to Scotch&Watch.
Tonight, Chris Duncan, former MD of The Times of London and ex-CEO of Bauer Media and I are focused on Australia’s world-first move to restrict under-16s from holding accounts on major social platforms.
It’s a controversial world first policy that’s already triggering platform pushback, legal challenges, and a predictable wave of workarounds.
But the real question isn’t whether the rollout is messy on day one. It’s what success actually looks like - and who gets to judge it.
We unpack the first-order tests: How many underage accounts are removed, what compliance reporting looks like, and whether government is willing to prosecute when outcomes fall short.
Then we move to the harder part: the second-order effects - displacement to other apps, shifts in online behaviour, and whether marketers and regulators start treating youth targeting as phase two of the crackdown.
In other words: What gets measured, what can’t be measured, and what evidence would convince us this intervention is working, or failing.
Thank you to everyone who tuned in tolive. Join me for my next live video in the app.
