With the dangers of social media becoming more widely known, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a proposal to ban social media for children under sixteen.
By Anash.org reporter
Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced plans to introduce legislation in the final parliamentary sessions of 2024 to ban children under sixteen from accessing social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.
“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Albanese stated. “I’ve spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online.”
His plan places responsibility on the social media platforms rather than families. “The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access. The onus won’t be on parents or young people,” he explained.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced that social media platforms will have twelve months to implement measures excluding Australian children under sixteen from using their apps, with penalties for non-compliance. “Every company that operates in Australia, whether domiciled here or otherwise, is expected and must comply with Australian law or face the consequences.”
Antigone Davis, Head of Safety at Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram), expressed willingness to comply but raised practical implementation concerns. “What’s missing is a deeper discussion on how we implement protections, otherwise we risk making ourselves feel better, like we have taken action, but teens and parents will not find themselves in a better place,” Davis remarked.
The practical implementation of age verification would present significant challenges, potentially requiring platforms to demand government-issued IDs from users. Davis suggested an alternative “simple and effective solution” focusing on enhanced parental control tools in app stores and operating systems, allowing parents to manage their children’s app access.
The legislation has garnered bipartisan support. Opposition lawmaker Paul Fletcher dismissed platform concerns, stating, “The platforms say: ‘It’s all too hard, we can’t do it, Australia will become a backwater, it won’t possibly work.’ But if you have well-drafted legislation and you stick to your guns, you can get the outcomes.” He added, “It’s not really a technical viability question, it’s a question of their readiness to do it and will they incur the cost to do it.”
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