Meta Says App Stores Should Be Policing Australia's Under-16 Social Ban - BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Australia will continue to enforce a social media ban on people under 16 despite calls from Meta Platforms Inc. to consider transferring responsibility for policing usage to app store operators such as Google and Apple.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Friday that all state and territory leaders had signed the age restriction plan, with the government excluding any exceptions for major services such as Facebook, TikTok or X.

The bill will be presented to parliament within the week from 18 November, with a period of 12 months between its adoption and entry into force. No information was provided about what personal information would be required to show proof of age on social media or the penalties companies could face for violating the law. The government also did not provide a comprehensive list of which platforms are considered social media.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said that under the new legislation such services would be labeled as “age-restricted”. The government will review individual websites and online services to decide whether they fall under the law, he said, but added that gaming services and messaging apps will likely be exempt.

Australia has a history of competing with big tech companies that operate social sites, including a 2021 push to make Meta’s Facebook and Alphabet Inc.’s Google pay for news content. More recently, the government sued Elon Musk’s X Corp for failing to remove video of a terrorist attack in Sydney. clashed with his company.

Australian Meta Regional Policy Director Mia Garlick said the company recognized that young people needed to have “age-appropriate experiences” on social media, but said it was important to consider how this could be implemented in practice.

“The challenge is that the technology is not quite there yet in terms of getting a perfect solution,” Garlick told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Friday. He added that it would be better for mobile app store providers to impose age restrictions on their products rather than social media companies.

“If every app has to implement its own age-appropriate controls, then the burden will really fall on teens and parents for each of the different apps a teen wants to use,” he said.

TikTok and X have not yet commented on the age restriction policy. It represents Apple Inc. and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Albanese rejected Meta’s proposal, saying he believed the government had made the right proposal and that he expected there would be opposition to the new laws.

He said it was unlikely the law would completely keep under-16s away from online platforms, but it would send an important signal.

“We prohibit people under the age of 18 from purchasing alcohol. “I’m sure this weekend there will be an example of someone under the age of 18 having access to alcohol,” he told reporters in Canberra. “It doesn’t mean you say, ‘Oh, it’s all so hard, let it rip’.”

–With help from Newley Purnell.

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