Australia passes social media minimum age law restricting app use by children under 16

Australia approved a social media ban on children under 16 on Thursday after an emotional debate gripped the country, setting a benchmark for jurisdictions around the world with one of the toughest regulations targeting Big Tech.

The law forces tech giants from Instagram and Facebook owner Meta to TikTok to prevent minors from logging in or face fines of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million). Methods to enforce the ban will begin in January, and the ban is expected to come into force within a year.

The Social Media Minimum Age Act makes Australia a test case for a growing number of governments that have introduced or say they plan to introduce age restrictions on social media due to concerns about the mental health effects of social media on young people.

Countries including France some US states has enacted laws restricting access by minors without parental consent, but the ban in Australia is absolute. Complete ban on children under 14 in Florida being challenged in court on the grounds of freedom of expression.

The marathon passage of the law on the last day of the parliamentary year in Australia marks a political victory for centre-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who will hold elections in 2025 at a time when opinion polls are falling. The ban faced opposition from privacy advocates and some children’s rights But according to recent polls, 77% of the population wanted it.

Against the backdrop of a parliamentary inquiry running until 2024 in which evidence is being taken from parents of children self-harming due to social media bullying, local media supported the ban, led by the country’s largest newspaper publisher, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, with a campaign titled “”. Let Them Be Children.”

But the ban could strain Australia’s relationship with its key ally, the United States; where X owner Elon Musk, a central figure in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, said in a post this month that it appeared to be “a backdoor way to control security access.” Internet by all Australians”.

It also builds on the current climate of hostility between Australia and tech giants, mostly based in the US. Australia becomes the first country to create social media platforms paying royalties to media organizations Now he plans to threaten them with fines for sharing their content mark the scams.

A spokesperson for Meta said the Facebook owner respected Australian law but was “concerned” about the process, what the industry is currently doing to provide age-appropriate experiences and voices that “rushed the law while failing to properly consider the evidence”. young people.”

“The task now turns to ensuring that there is a productive consultation on all rules relating to the Bill to ensure a technically feasible outcome that will not impose a heavy burden on parents and young people, and to provide a commitment that the rules will be applied consistently across all social and young people,” the spokesperson said.

Representatives of TikTok and X, who the government said would be affected by the ban, have not yet commented.

Companies including Alphabet’s Google, whose subsidiary YouTube is exempt because it is widely used in schools, have argued that the law should be delayed until after age verification litigation.

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“This is the cart before the horse,” said Sunita Bose, managing director of the Digital Industry Group, of which most social media companies are members.

“We have the bill but we are not getting guidance from the Australian government on what are the correct methods that many of the services that are subject to this law should be using,” Bose told Reuters.

Nation Divided

Some youth advocacy groups and academics have warned that the ban could alienate the most vulnerable young people, including LGBTQIA and immigrant youth, from support networks. The Australian Human Rights Commission said the law could violate young people’s human rights by interfering with their ability to participate in society.

Privacy advocates, meanwhile, have warned that the law could lead to increased collection of personal data and pave the way for digital identity-based government surveillance. A last-minute amendment to the bill stated that platforms should offer alternatives for users to upload their identity documents.

“These are bombers trying to tell young people how the internet should work to make them feel better,” senator Sarah Hanson-Young, from the left-wing Greens, said at the Senate hearing just before the bill was passed with 34 votes. 19.

But parent groups have pushed for intervention, drawing on comments from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who said in 2023 that social media had worsened the youth mental health crisis enough to warrant a health alert.

“I think putting an age limit and giving control back to parents, that’s a starting point,” said Australian anti-bullying advocate Ali Halkic, whose 17-year-old son Allem took his own life in 2009 following social media bullying.

Sydney schoolgirl Enie Lam, who recently turned 16, said social media contributed to body image issues and cyberbullying, but a total ban could drive young people to less visible, more dangerous parts of the internet.

“This will just create a generation of young people who will break through these walls and be more tech-savvy,” he told Reuters. “It will not achieve the desired effects.”

“We all know that social media is not good for us, but a social media ban is often strongly opposed by a large number of young people.”

This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Australia’s new social media law bans most users under 16