Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Australia is set to legislate for a ban on social media for children under 16, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday, in what Canberra calls a world-leading package of measures that could become law late next year.
Australia is trialing an age-verification system to assist in blocking children from accessing social media platforms, as part of a range of measures that include some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date, the media reported.
“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Albanese told a news conference.
He cited the risks to the physical and mental health of children from excessive social media use, in particular the risks to girls from harmful depictions of body image, and misogynist content aimed at boys.
A number of countries have already vowed to curb social media use by children through legislation, though Australia’s policy is one of the most stringent.
No jurisdiction so far has tried using age verification methods like biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media age cut-off, two of the methods being trialed.
Australia’s other world-first proposals are the highest age limit set by any country, with no exemption for parental consent and no exemption for pre-existing accounts.
Legislation will be introduced into the Australian parliament this year, with the laws coming into effect 12 months after being ratified by lawmakers, Albanese said.
The opposition Liberal Party has also supported the move.
There will be no exemptions for children who have parental consent, or who already have accounts.
“The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access,” Albanese said. “The onus won’t be on parents or young people.”
Calling it a world-first, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the platforms to be impacted would include Meta Platforms, Instagram, and Facebook, as well as Bytedance’s TikTok and Elon Musk’s X. Alphabet’s YouTube would likely also fall within the scope of the legislation, she added.
The Digital Industry Group, a representative body that includes Meta, TikTok, X, and Alphabet’s Google as members, said the measure could encourage young people to explore darker, unregulated parts of the internet while cutting their access to support networks.
“Keeping young people safe online is a top priority … but the proposed ban for teenagers to access digital platforms is a 20th-century response to 21st-century challenges,” said DIGI Managing Director Sunita Bose.
“Rather than blocking access through bans, we need to take a balanced approach to create age-appropriate spaces, build digital literacy, and protect young people from online harm,” she added.
France last year proposed a ban on social media for those under 15, although users were able to avoid the ban with parental consent.
The United States has for decades required technology companies to seek parental consent to access the data of children under 13, leading to most social media platforms banning those under that age from accessing their services.
Taking a lead to protect young Australians’ mental well-being, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday announced a new measure that will restrict children under 16 years of age from using social media.
Firms managing social platforms will be required to enforce these age restrictions or face substantial penalties for non-compliance, the reports said.
Expressing concerns over the ‘negative’ impact of social media on younger minds, Albanese said “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 clarified that penalties would not apply to parents or young users but to platforms that fail to comply.
The age restriction is just one aspect of a broader initiative by the Labour government in Australia to hold technology behemoths accountable for online content, which Albanese believes contributes to misinformation and mental health issues.
This builds on Australia’s previous actions, including a 2021 law that mandated payments from companies like Google and Facebook for news content shared on their platforms.
The government also recently challenged Elon Musk’s X Corp in court over its failure to remove a video of a terrorist attack in Sydney. Alongside the age restrictions, Australia is considering additional regulations to curb misinformation and disinformation on social media.
While officials confirmed discussions with social media companies about the new age limits, specifics about which platforms will be affected, enforcement mechanisms, and potential fines remain unclear. Albanese acknowledged that the effectiveness of these regulations may be limited initially, comparing the age restriction to alcohol laws that have not fully prevented underage drinking.
Across Europe, several countries are implementing or considering age-based social media restrictions to promote mental health and safety among young users.
In France, new regulations require parental consent for social media users under 15. Proposed measures go further, suggesting a ban on smartphones for children under 13 and stricter usage limits for those under 18 on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
The UK is also reviewing potential laws that would restrict smartphone sales to individuals over 16. These efforts align with the European Union’s 2018 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which allows EU member states to set their own minimum age for digital consent, generally ranging from 13 to 16.
Despite these initiatives, enforcing age-based restrictions globally presents significant challenges due to differences in regulation and the technical hurdles of verifying users’ ages on digital platforms.