14-year-old Mia Richardson can't remember life before social media.
"I wish I didn't have it as early as I did and if I could get rid of it, I feel like if I got rid of it, it would be hard, but if everyone didn't have it. I think it'd be easier."
She's among a growing number of teens whose social development has been impacted by its use.
"Growing up with social media, I think it's changed a lot of me and my friends' opinions. And I think if the ban was to go through, I think it'd be very hard to deal without social media. I think because we've slowly got used to social media, it would be hard just to take it straight away. I think we need to slowly get rid of it and then maybe one day it can be gone again. And I feel like it'll be easier to communicate with friends and in person."
A Social Media Summit, jointly hosted by the New South Wales Government and the Government of South Australia, has brought together academics, young people and politicians to look at how best to address the negative impacts of social media.
The summit comes at a time when the Federal Government is reviewing the minimum age for social media use, with legislation expected by November.
What the minimum age will be hasn't yet been publicly announced.
But it is widely expected to be somewhere between 14 and 16.
South Australia's Premier, Peter Malinauskas, says the evidence about social media's harms to young people is clear.
"It's now time for governments to step in and do something about it. We cannot allow social media companies to industrialise addiction of young people for their financial benefit at the expense of children having the upbringing that they deserve. To have healthy relationships, to have an optimistic sense of themselves and their futures. And that's why we're going to do something about it. Again, Chris is right. The federal government to their great credit with bipartisan support of the coalition are going to act. We are going to see legislation introduced into the federal parliament before the end of this calendar year. We can't welcome that enough. I do think there needs to be a degree of urgency applied from governments and their leaders around the nation."
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says parents face extra challenges being unable to turn to older generations for advice when it comes social media.
Mr Minns says parents need support too.
"We weren't exposed to this level of digital intrusion when we were kids and neither were our parents. So the single best resource and advice that parents have when dealing with the problem facing your own children and that is, sitting down and asking your mum what she did when you were a complete pain in the ass, is not available. Because this is the first generation that has confronted this challenge."
Jesse Alexander-Gordon is in Year 12.
He is a bit of an outlier amongst his peer group in supporting a ban.
"From my personal experience, people my age, I'm 17, people my age are actually in support of it. Everyone I've talked to is quite a big fan of the ban. People younger, so you're looking at people under 14, it becomes a bit more controversial. Those are the people who would be impacted by a ban, but people who have gone off the back growing up with social media, they realise that a ban would've been beneficial to them growing up."
Jesse uses social media himself, adding that while many people are using it for the right reasons, he does think social media companies need to do more to protect vulnerable younger people.
"I think, look, my favourite way of doing it is that you get these social media companies, which are quite smart companies. You put the onus on them, you put the responsibility on them to enforce these rules pretty much, and we need transparency. We need checks on these companies, and when they're found in breach, you give them heavy fines, so the responsibility is on them."
Psychologists have been observing its impact too and some are concerned by what they've seen.
Dr Jean Twenge is from San Diego State University.
She says there is plenty of global data linking social media use with increases in depression and loneliness, anxiety, self-harm and suicide - particularly among girls and young women.
She supports age restrictions.
"I think most of the data points in the direction of 16 or older being the age minimum for social media. So the links between social media use and depression are stronger among those ages 15 and younger. In most of the data that we have. 17 and 18 year olds, the links are not quite as strong. Some people have made an argument for the age minimum being 18 at legal adulthood, but I think 16 is a nice compromise because then if a young person is interested in community affairs or politics, that's something social media might potentially be useful for. And then we're protecting children and younger teens from a lot of the inappropriate and harmful content that is online as well, that a 16 or 17-year-old might be better able to handle."
Federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says if the ban is implemented, there won't be penalties for children or parents.
She says it will be incumbent on the platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to ensure fundamental protections are in place.
"Our approach will ensure the eSafety regulator provides oversight and enforcement, and we are also considering an exemption framework to accommodate access for social media services that demonstrate a low risk of harm to children. The aim of an exemption is to create positive incentives for digital platforms to develop age-appropriate versions of their apps and embed safe and healthy experiences by design. We will set a 12 month implementation timeframe to provide industry and the regulator the time necessary to implement systems and processes."
Exemptions for social media platforms that demonstrate a low risk of harm to children are being considered.
If the age ban is implemented, it's likely the social media companies will be the ones enforcing it - with some experts questioning how effective this will be and how willingly teens will comply.
