Australia social media ban for under-16s takes a big step closer to becoming law
Australia’s lower house of parliament passed legislation on Wednesday that, if approved as expected, would Children will be prohibited Children under 16 no longer use most social media platforms, bringing the country closer to enforcing a unique and strict law on children’s internet habits.
the country’s House of Representatives passed the bill By an overwhelming majority, 102 voted in favor and only 13 voted against. The bill will now move to the Senate, where it is expected to be passed on Thursday during Parliament’s final session of the year.
All major political parties in Australia’s House of Representatives support the bill, which would see social media companies including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram face fines of up to AU$50 million (approximately US$33 million) for failing to block people under the age of 16. Fine to create an account on their platform.
Meta, the tech giant that owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, called for the bill to be delayed.
in a statement Meta posted online on Tuesday that it was “concerned that the government has rushed into implementing this legislation without adequate consultation or evidence, and that there are still many unknowns surrounding its implementation.”
A Meta spokesperson said: “The government’s approach may require each app provider to collect personally identifiable or biometric data of all Australians to prevent people under 16 from accessing their services, which would be a big deal for everyone. An inefficient and cumbersome process.”
Meta also noted that it introduced a policy on its Instagram platform, Instagram Teen Accounts, earlier this year that restricted who could contact teens through teen accounts and attempted to control what content younger users saw.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk also condemned the Australian bill in a post shared on the X platform he owns last week, saying that in his view it was “like controlling access to all Australians” The Internet’s backdoor approach.”
Mick Tsikas/AAP Photo via Associated Press
Other independent agencies and not-for-profit organizations have also raised concerns about young people’s human rights being potentially restricted by the bill.
Mat Tinkler, chief executive of the charity Save the Children in a statement Earlier this month, while he welcomed government efforts to protect children from harm online, the solution should be to regulate social media companies rather than impose blanket bans.
“We ask the government to reconsider this legislative approach and instead use the current momentum to hold social media giants to account, requiring them to embed safety into their platforms rather than adding it as an afterthought and to engage with experts, children and young people It’s up to you to make cyberspace safer, not ban it,” Tinkler said.
this Australian Human Rights CommissionThe independent government agency expressed “serious reservations” about the proposed law in an analysis published last week.
“There are less restrictive alternatives that could achieve the goal of protecting children and young people from harm online without having such a significant negative impact on other human rights. An example of an alternative response would be to impose a legal duty of care on social media companies ”, the analysis said. “We also need to ensure that the national curriculum focuses specifically on teaching digital literacy and online safety to help children and young people better navigate online spaces.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed criticism of proposed laws as he address parliament on Monday.
“Common sense exemptions are there. We want to ensure that young people can continue to have access to health and education-related services – Headspace, YouTube, Google Classroom – as well as messaging services and online games,” he said.
The Australian leader added that there would be “very strong and strict privacy requirements to protect people’s personal information, including an obligation to destroy the information provided once age has been verified.”
Despite the criticism, the legislation remains popular with Australians, according to recent polling data.
one YouGov survey Figures released on Tuesday showed 77 per cent of Australians support a ban on under-16s, with 87 per cent saying they support tougher penalties for social media companies that don’t comply.
