Australia enacts law to bar children up to 16 years from accessing social media
29 Nov 2024
Australia on Thursday announced the passage of a bill to ban social media use by children up to the age of 16, after the bill was passed by both houses of parliament.
The House of Representatives passed the bill with 102 members backing it and 13 opposing it while the Senate passed it with 34 voting for and 19 voting against the bill.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labour government is moving ahead with the ban despite opposition by aggrieved students and plea for delay by social media giants like Google and Meta.
The Australian government expects the legislation to become law by the end of next year, marking the first ever safeguard to protect teenagers from the pitfalls of social media.
While social media giants like Google and Meta are opposing the bill as it would limit their user base, students have argued that such a law would hinder social and familial ties.
The Australian government said the regulation is needed to protect the mental and physical wellbeing of minor children, who will otherwise be exposed to the "harms" of social media.
Once the bill becomes law, access to all social media sites, including Meta, Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok will be blocked for children up to the age of 16 years.
The bill provides for stiff penalties of A$50 million ($32.46 million) on social media platforms that fail to bar youngsters from holding accounts with them.
The government will give a year to remove all accounts of minor children from their sites.
While the Senate has passed the bill, the Senate committee while endorsing the bill, wanted to include a clause to the effect that users should not be compelled to provide personal data.
The committee also wanted to engage youth in the legislative procedure while ensuring that platforms do not compel users to provide personal data.
Critics of the social media ban for children say the legislation was rushed through without scrutiny of the possible risks to users. They also say it takes away parents’ right to decide what’s best for their children.
Instead of the ban that deprives children of all positive things of social media, the government should have tried to make online platforms safer for all, they add.
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