The law includes steep penalties for noncompliance and attempts to limit exposure to hazardous content.
A world-first bill prohibiting children under 16 from using social media was put into Parliament by Australia’s communications minister, who stated that one of the hardest things for parents to deal with is their children’s online safety.
Platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X, and Instagram could be fined up to $33 million for systemic failures to prevent young children from having accounts, according to Michelle Rowland.
Rowland informed Parliament, “This bill aims to establish a new normative value in society that using social media is not the defining characteristic of growing up in Australia.”
“There is broad recognition that immediate action is needed to help shield children and young teens from endless, unfiltered streams of content,” she continued.
There is broad political support for the law. The platforms would have a year to figure out how to apply the age restriction when it is enacted.
“Social media can be detrimental to far too many young Australians. Nearly two-thirds of Australians between the ages of 14 and 17 have seen extremely harmful stuff online, such as violent content, suicide or self-harm, and drug misuse. According to Rowland, 25% of people have been exposed to material that encourages unhealthy eating practices.
According to government statistics, “online safety is one of the hardest parenting challenges for 95% of Australian caregivers,” she stated.
According to her, social media had a social duty and could do more to alleviate damages on their platforms.
“We are here to support parents in promoting their children’s health and well-being, and this is about protecting young people, not punishing or isolating them,” Rowland stated.
Concerns regarding the prohibition have been voiced by child welfare and internet specialists, who point out that it will exclude 14 and 15-year-olds from their pre-existing online social networks.
Age restrictions won’t be applied to online games, messaging services, or systems that significantly improve users’ health and education, according to Rowland.
“We are not claiming that there are no risks associated with online gaming or chat apps. Users are not subject to the same algorithmic content curation and psychological manipulation to promote nearly limitless interaction, even though they may still be exposed to dangerous content by other users, according to Rowland.
Possible prohibition in the United Kingdom
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle stated that the UK government is also thinking about a possible ban on youngsters under the age of 16 using social media.
As the government continues to investigate how technology, such as smartphones and social media, affects youth, the announcement was made on Wednesday.
While acknowledging that there isn’t “firm, peer-reviewed evidence” on the matter, Kyle emphasized the significance of data collection in order to make informed judgments.
For the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, he has laid out his strategic objectives in a formal “letter of strategic intent.”
