Australian lawmakers on Thursday approved a landmark ban on social media for children under 16. The ban, which aims to address the impact of excessive use of social media use on children’s physical and mental health, would impact social media platforms like X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Reddit, but not YouTube. The platforms will bear sole responsibility for enforcement and have one year to figure out how to implement the age limit. Tech giants could face fines of A$49.5m ($32 million) for non-compliance.
The ban, among the toughest in the world, has broad political support but has been criticized by some experts who say it could have unintended negative consequences. Its passage comes after a few Australian teenagers died by suicide over what their families said was online bullying. A YouGov poll released two days earlier found that 77% of Australians supported the ban, up from 61% in August.
The Social Media Minimum Age bill sets Australia up as a test case for a growing number of governments which have legislated or said they plan to legislate an age restriction on social media amid concern about its mental health impact on young people, says Reuters, adding, “countries including France and some U.S. states have passed laws to restrict access for minors without a parent’s permission, but the Australian ban is absolute.”
Some youth advocacy groups and academics had warned the ban could shut off the most vulnerable young people, including LGBTQIA and migrant teenagers, from support networks. The Australian Human Rights Commission said the law may infringe on the human rights of young people by interfering with their ability to participate in society.
The ban could strain Australia’s relationship with the US, where Elon Musk, a key ally of President-elect Donald Trump, who owns X, said in an earlier post it seemed a “backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians”. Australia’s relations with mostly American tech giants have been less than warm – it was the first country to make social media platforms pay media outlets royalties for sharing their content and now plans to threaten them with fines for failing to stamp out scams.
The Australian government said it will ensure that young people have continued access to messaging apps such as WhatsApp, online gaming platforms such as Roblox and essential services related to health and education.
Is the ban on social media for children a welcome step in the right direction? Views would be welcome.
The article has reference to open sources including Reuters and NBC News. Image Source: India Today.