Australia Proposes Social Media Ban for Under-16s with Heavy Penalty For Violations

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In a statement, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese emphasized that the ideas were a historic reform while acknowledging that some children will find ways around them.

The Australian government has introduced a ‘landmark’ bill in the parliament to ban children under 16 from social media. It threatens social media companies to pay a multimillion-dollar fine if they breach the proposed ban.

In a statement, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland stated that the Albanese government is proposing legislation that would set the minimum age as 16 who will have access to social media. It was done to protect the young people, thereby supporting the parents.

The minister continued that social media is detrimental to a large number of young Australians, with almost two-thirds of 14 to 17-year-old Australian children viewing extremely harmful content online, such as suicide, drug addiction, or self-harm.

This legislation applies to social media platforms like X, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. Companies that fail to take reasonable measures to prevent age-restricted users from creating an account might face a financial penalty of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($32.5 million) under the legislation.

The legislation has support from the ruling Labor Party and the opposition Liberals, so if approved, it will come into effect within a year. Under the law, the accounts with parental consent and pre-existing accounts would not have any exceptions. 

After it becomes a law, the social media companies have one year from the time of legislation to figure out how they are going to apply the age restrictions.

The country intends to test an age verification system by incorporating biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media age restriction. It would be one of the strictest controls ever implemented by any country.

The law came in response to the many high-profile children taking their lives due to online bullying, and parents have also complained about the pressure their children face while using the internet.

Many parents and pro-ban activists claim this is the long overdue step to hold tech companies accountable for tools Australian children use online.

Although many analysts have questioned whether enforcing such a rigorous age ban would be technically possible.

Katie Maskiell from UNICEF Australia says she does not believe that this proposed legislation would be enough to protect children.

She fears the law would encourage young people to use unregulated or secret online platforms, which would cancel the intention.

In a statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese emphasized that the ideas were a historic reform while acknowledging that some children will find ways around them.

US billionaire Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform X, has criticized the proposed rule in Australia to ban social media for underage kids.

Musk, who sees himself as a defender of free speech, responded to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s post on X regarding the bill, stating it seemed like a backdoor way to control access to the internet.

Several countries have already committed to limiting the use of social media platforms for young children.

Last year, France proposed a ban on social media for kids under the age of 15, but users were able to bypass the prohibition with parental consent.

For decades, the USA has mandated that technology companies obtain parental consent before accessing the data of children under the age of 13.

Additionally, a new law in Florida was scheduled to take effect in January to ban children under the age of 14 from creating accounts on social media platforms.

Spain proposed a law in June that would increase the current age limit for social media access from 14 to 16, with parental controls.

In the past, Musk has criticized the center-left Labour government in Australia for its misinformation law and its social media policies, calling it fascist.

In April, X went to the Australian court to challenge a cyber regular order to remove some tweets regarding the stabbing of a Syndey bishop, prompting Albanese to refer to Musk as an arrogant billionaire.