Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced plans on Thursday to ban children under 16 from accessing social media, citing the negative impact of platforms like Facebook and TikTok on young users.
Under the proposed legislation, tech giants would be required to enforce the age limit and could face substantial fines if found negligent in preventing underage access.
“This one is for the mums and dads. Social media is doing real harm to kids, and I’m calling time on it,” Albanese stated, emphasizing the government’s commitment to protecting children from harmful online influences.
Australia, at the forefront of efforts to regulate social media, would have one of the strictest age restrictions worldwide. The proposal will be discussed with state and territory leaders this week and is set to be introduced to parliament in late November.
If passed, tech platforms will have a year to develop and implement compliance measures.
Albanese noted, “The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access,” Albanese said, explaining what he dubbed a “world-leading” reform.
“The onus won’t be on parents or young people.”
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it would “respect any age limitations the government wants to introduce”.
But Antigone Davis, Meta’s head of safety, said Australia should think carefully about how these restrictions were implemented.
She said poorly drafted laws “risk making ourselves feel better, like we have taken action, but teens and parents will not find themselves in a better place”.
Snapchat pointed to a statement from industry body DIGI, which warned that a ban could stop teenagers from accessing “mental health support”
“Swimming has risks, but we don’t ban young people from the beach, we teach them to swim between the flags,” a DIGI spokeswoman said.
TikTok said it had nothing to add at this stage.
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