The Australian government, led by the centre-left Labor party, has introduced a new bill in parliament that seeks to prohibit children under the age of 16 from using social media platforms. The proposed legislation includes substantial fines of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million, approximately Rs. 270 crore) for social media companies that fail to comply with these rules.
To enforce an age restriction for social media access, Australia plans to trial an age-verification system that may utilize biometrics or government-issued identification. This initiative represents some of the most stringent regulations imposed by any nation to date.
If enacted, these proposals would establish the highest age limit for social media use compared to other countries, with no allowances for parental consent or pre-existing accounts.
“This is a landmark reform. We know some kids will find workarounds, but we’re sending a message to social media companies to clean up their act,” stated Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The opposition Liberal party has expressed support for the bill; however, members of the independent and Green parties are seeking more information about the legislation, which would affect popular platforms such as Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, TikTok from Bytedance, and X and Snapchat, owned by Elon Musk.
Despite the restrictions, Albanese assured that children would still be able to access certain online services, including messaging, gaming, and educational resources related to health, such as youth mental health support site Headspace and Google’s educational tools like Google Classroom and YouTube.
The Albanese government has emphasized that excessive social media usage can endanger the physical and mental well-being of children, particularly concerning the negative impacts on girls’ body image and the exposure of boys to misogynistic content.
While various nations have taken steps to limit children’s social media usage through legislation, Australia’s approach stands out as one of the most rigorous. Last year, France proposed a ban on social media for individuals under 15; however, users could circumvent this with parental consent. In the United States, technology companies have been required for decades to obtain parental consent to collect data from children under 13.
“For too many young Australians, social media can be harmful. Almost two-thirds of 14 to 17-year-old Australians have viewed extremely harmful content online, including drug abuse, suicide, or self-harm,” Communications Minister Michelle Rowland highlighted during parliamentary discussions on Thursday.
The proposed legislation mandates that social media platforms, rather than parents or youth, take reasonable steps to implement age-verification measures.
Furthermore, the bill includes stringent privacy requirements, such as obliging platforms to delete any personal information they collect to protect user data, according to Rowland.
“Social media has a social responsibility … that’s why we are making big changes to hold platforms to account for user safety,” Rowland concluded.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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