Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has branded Australia's social media ban for under-16s an "unmitigated disaster" and an "embarrassment," arguing it stems from a "massive moral panic" that is "really unjustified." In an interview with Guardian Australia, Wales criticized the government policy, which requires age verification, warning it normalizes surveillance among young users.
Lessons from the Past
Wales, whose online encyclopedia launched in 2001 before the social media era, recalled that toxicity existed long before platforms like Facebook and TikTok. He cited Usenet, an early internet message board, as "unbelievably toxic" with flame wars and personal attacks. "Humans don't need algorithms to be mean to each other," he said, cautioning against romanticizing the past.
Wikipedia's Community Model
Wales is visiting Australia in May for writers' festivals promoting his book Seven Rules of Trust, which examines how Wikipedia's trust model can address political polarization. He emphasized that Wikipedia's core rule is no personal attacks, contrasting it with social media where algorithms reward conflict. "At Wikipedia, it's all in the hands of the community," he said, while social media users are "just serfs on the master's estate."
Critique of the Ban
Wales opposed the Australian government's ban, which prohibits under-16s from platforms like X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, citing algorithms as harmful. He argued that age verification demands personal identification, which is "madness" and unsafe. He pointed to Roblox's facial age assurance as a bad precedent, teaching kids to accept surveillance. "Most people in favor of this aren't in favor of surveillance capitalism," he said, suggesting they haven't thought it through.
Parental Controls Alternative
Wales noted that many parents are unaware of existing parental controls on phones. He proposed regulation requiring retailers to sell phones pre-configured as child phones, rather than banning social media. "It's really easy to set up on both Android and Apple," he said.
AI's Impact on Wikipedia
Wales acknowledged that AI chatbots like ChatGPT have caused an 8% drop in human traffic to Wikipedia, mainly from low-engagement queries. However, AI crawlers are "really hammering" the site, as bot traffic is "disproportionately expensive" to serve. Wikipedia is now encouraging AI companies to use its enterprise product for a fee. While AI is not allowed to edit Wikipedia directly, Wales noted that AI often makes mistakes on obscure topics, unlike Wikipedia's well-researched entries.
Jimmy Wales appears at the Capitol in Melbourne on 20 May, presented by the Wheeler Centre, and at Sydney Writers' Festival from 17-24 May.
