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The Fox News Rundown

Extra: Australia Banned Teens From Social Media. Should The US Follow?

The Fox News Rundown

FOX News Podcasts

News, Daily News, Politics

3.41.7K Ratings

🗓️ 14 December 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Australia’s Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act came into effect this week, barring anyone under 16 from having a social media account. With the growing concerns about how technology and platforms like TikTok and Instagram are harming children, there are calls in America to pass similar laws. Social media reform advocate and founder of Scrolling2Death.com, Nicki Petrossi, says teens under 16 should be prohibited from using social media. Petrossi recently joined The FOX News Rundown’s Lisa Brady to discuss the dangers of kids being online and why she thinks tech companies are not doing enough to protect them from online risks. She also explains how many big techs intentionally try to get young people addicted to their apps and products, and why parents need to act. We often must cut interviews short during the week, but we thought you might like to hear the full interview. Today on Fox News Rundown Extra, we will share our entire interview with Scrolling2Death founder, Nicki Petrossi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is the Fox News Rundown Extra.

0:06.4

In the past week, Tamia Woods joined a growing list no one would want to be on.

0:13.3

Heartbroken and angry parents who've told Congress their horror stories about children dying by suicide.

0:20.2

Some after being targeted by online predators

0:22.6

who are often overseas, posing as teens, and running sextortion schemes. Others led down

0:28.4

dark paths by AI chatbots or facing a variety of risks and impacts from the amount of time

0:34.6

they're spending online in their early teenage years.

0:42.6

So we spoke with former social media executive turned reform advocate Nikki Petrosi,

0:46.3

the founder of scrolling to death, about the effort to raise awareness,

0:51.2

the legal fights aiming to force change, and growing attention from lawmakers on these issues.

0:55.5

Part of Petrosi's focus is on Apple, which along with other tech giants,

1:01.2

has emphasized ongoing efforts to improve safeguards. We made some edits for time and thought you might want to hear the whole thing. So thanks for listening. And if you haven't already,

1:05.2

please subscribe to the weekday Fox News Rundown podcast. Now here's Nikki Petrosy on the Fox News Rundown Extra.

1:17.1

It does feel lately, especially like there's one horror story after another related to online dangers, social media in particular for kids.

1:29.3

Are we as a society at least becoming more aware of the extent of the threats and the impacts?

1:36.2

I think for sure we're becoming more aware. I think the U.S. Surgeon General's warning in

1:41.1

23 that when kids spend, when young people spend three or more hours

1:45.5

on social media, they face double the risk of anxiety and depression.

1:49.4

That was a real, that got parents' attention.

1:52.2

And along with that, the anxious generation by Jonathan Haidt hit, which sort of described

1:56.9

to us what happened over the past decade or two, why kids are more suicidal than ever. I mean,

2:02.5

the suicide rates of kids 10 to 14 have tripled. Why that has happened. And it really was the spike

...

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