Code vs Family
The Ethics of Government, Engineers, & Social Control
Understanding Australia's Social Media Ban and Its Global Implications
My ethical interest perked up as I read through Australia's new social media legislation last week. Not because I oppose protecting children online – I've spent my career advocating for responsible technology use. What troubled me was the ethical dimension of a state actor and its use of technology. This newsletter is not about politics or political science. It focuses on the development of ethical deep technology.
In this issue, we stop at the intersection of ethics, government, techology engineering, and social control. AI and other deep tech will require us to reflect on its ethical or unethical use in many applications such as law, education, business, the arts, law enforcement, health care and sick care, religion, politics and government, economics and banking, military, and in this case the border where the sphere of family authority and government authority meet.
The Hidden Architecture of Digital Surveillance
The Online Safety Amendment Bill 2024 arrived wrapped in the comfortable language of child protection. Yet as I dug into the technical requirements, an unsettling picture emerged. The legislation mandates sophisticated surveillance systems for age verification and user monitoring, with platforms facing fines up to $49.5 million for non-compliance. The implications extend far beyond Australia's borders, as democracies worldwide watch this experiment with keen interest.
Technical Requirements and Privacy Concerns
Let me share ethical problems discovered as I analysed the technical specifications. The law requires platforms to implement biometric data collection, behavioural pattern analysis, and cross-platform data sharing. These aren't just safety measures – they're the foundational elements of a comprehensive digital control system. Having worked with privacy-preserving technologies for decades, I recognise the architecture of surveillance when I see it, even when it comes disguised as protection.
Learning from History: The Evolution of Control Systems
Think about what these age verification systems actually demand: collecting sensitive personal data from minors, processing biometric information, and deploying artificial intelligence to analyse user behaviour. It reminds me of analyses I have done on Chinese developers and their social credit system. It, too, began with benevolent intentions – consumer credit scoring – before expanding into comprehensive social monitoring.
The timing of this legislation deserves careful consideration. Its introduction follows closely on the heels of Donald Trump's election to a second term, a victory widely attributed to his powerful presence on X (formerly Twitter) after his reinstatement by Elon Musk.
Musk's stated mission to create a "free speech platform" has demonstrably shifted the digital landscape, enabling voices that challenge established political narratives to reach massive audiences. Australian politicians, watching these global developments, have witnessed firsthand how unfettered social media can reshape political fortunes - from Trump's digital resurrection to the rapid spread of anti-establishment messages across platforms. While the legislation's public face focuses on protecting young people, its architecture of control could easily extend beyond age verification to broader content governance.
The question naturally arises: Is this truly about protecting children, or does it represent a pre-emptive move by political establishments to maintain control over digital discourse? The technical infrastructure required for age verification could readily evolve into tools for broader social media control, following a pattern we've seen in other jurisdictions where initial protective measures expanded into comprehensive digital surveillance systems.
Virtue Ethics: The Foundation for Ethical Technology
Rather than relying solely on regulatory frameworks or international conventions, we must ground our approach in virtue ethics - a philosophical tradition that emphasises character, practical wisdom, and human flourishing. This framework offers crucial insights for technology development and governance.
Virtue Ethics in Technology Development
Virtue ethics asks not just what rules we should follow, but what kind of society we aim to build. In the context of technology and family sovereignty, this means examining how our technical solutions either support or undermine human flourishing. The ancient concept of phronesis - practical wisdom gained through experience - suggests parents are best positioned to make nuanced decisions about their children's technology use.
Traditional virtue ethics emphasises several key principles relevant to our current challenge:
-The development of practical wisdom through experience - precisely what we remove when we substitute government mandates for parental judgment. Parents understand their children's maturity levels, circumstances, and needs in ways no algorithm or legislation can capture.
- The importance of character formation - which happens primarily within families, not through government intervention. Social media and digital technologies, when thoughtfully integrated into family life, can support rather than hinder character development.
-The role of community in ethical development - where families serve as the primary unit of moral education. Digital connections, properly managed within family frameworks, can strengthen rather than weaken these community bonds.
Applied Virtue Ethics in Technology
When we apply virtue ethics to technology development, several imperatives emerge:
Technologies should enhance rather than diminish human agency and wisdom. Systems that override parental judgment fail this basic test.
Technical solutions should support character development and human flourishing. Age verification systems that treat all under-16s as identical ignore individual development and family circumstances.
Technology should strengthen, not weaken, fundamental human relationships. Government-mandated bans risk isolating young people from positive online communities and educational opportunities that families might thoughtfully choose to embrace.
This ethical framework suggests we need technical solutions that:
- Empower parental wisdom rather than replace it
- Support family-level decision making
- Enable rather than restrict positive uses of technology
- Preserve the family's role in character formation
The virtue ethics tradition reminds us that good character and practical wisdom, developed within families, provide better protection than external controls. Our role as technologists is to create tools that enhance this wisdom rather than substitute for it.
The Erosion of Family Sovereignty
What troubles me most is how this legislation undermines something I've always held sacred: family sovereignty. Both Western and Eastern civilisations have traditionally recognised the family as society's fundamental unit. Parents, not governments, hold primary responsibility for their children's development. Yet this law effectively tells parents they can't be trusted to make informed decisions about their children's digital lives.
Real-World Impact on Families
I recently spoke with a parent whose 15-year-old daughter uses social media to connect with relatives overseas and participate in coding communities. Under this law, this thoughtful parent's judgement is overridden by state mandate. The message is clear: the government knows better than families what's best for children in the digital age.
Alternative Solutions for Child Protection
But here's the thing: we don't have to choose between protecting children and preserving freedom. Throughout my career developing ethical technology frameworks, I've seen brilliant solutions that enhance safety while respecting autonomy. We can create privacy-preserving verification systems that empower parental choice without building surveillance infrastructure.
The Developer's Ethical Responsibility
For my fellow developers, this moment demands more than technical expertise. We must embed ethical principles in every line of code we write. Privacy by design, user autonomy, and transparent operation aren't optional features – they're fundamental safeguards against technological overreach.
The Path Forward
As Norway and France consider similar measures, we face a crucial choice. Will we sacrifice fundamental freedoms for the illusion of protection? Will we allow well-intentioned concerns about online safety to justify the creation of authoritarian-style control mechanisms?
The challenge before us is clear: we must develop technologies that protect young people while preserving the fundamental rights that distinguish democratic societies from authoritarian ones. This requires not just technical innovation, but ethical clarity and political courage.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. How do you think we can better protect young people while preserving family autonomy? How would you design systems that empower rather than control? Share your perspectives below.
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I am a business and technology writer with credentials as consultant, C-level business executive, academic, social entrepreneur, futurist and long time self-taught tech geek.
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I founded Kevin Baker Consulting in 2012 specialising in startup advisory, growth strategy, and execution of business planning for high performance results. With a rich background in international business, I bring a unique international perspective to the evolving dialogue on the business of ethics and technology.
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