Australia plans to ban social media for children under 16
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a law that would ban the use of social media for kids under 16. The legislation, aimed at platforms like Meta's Instagram and Facebook, Bytedance's TikTok, Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter), and probably Alphabet's YouTube, aims to safeguard young people's mental health. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland confirmed that the legislation will be introduced within the year and implemented 12 months after parliamentary approval.
No exemptions for parental consent in proposed law
The proposed law would put the onus on social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent access by users under 16. There will be no exemptions for parental consent in the legislation. "The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access," Albanese said, adding that "the onus won't be on parents or young people."
Australia's history of regulating tech giants
The initiative is part of Albanese's Labour government's broader effort to rein in tech giants, holding them accountable for spreading misinformation and mental health issues among the youth. The move also continues Australia's trend of standing up to big tech companies. In 2021, the country forced Facebook and Google to pay for news content and recently sued Musk's X Corp. over a terrorist attack video.
Experts question effectiveness of social media ban
While the proposed law has been welcomed by some parents and child safety advocates, experts have raised questions about its effectiveness. They argue that age-verification tools can be easily bypassed by children, making such bans difficult to enforce. University of Melbourne researcher Toby Murray earlier stated, "We already know that present age verification methods are unreliable, too easy to circumvent, or risk user privacy."
