Australia proposes to ban the use of social media for children under the age of five

MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian government on Thursday announced what it described as world-leading legislation that will set a maximum age of 16 for children to start using social media, and hold platforms responsible for ensuring compliance.

“Social media is harming our children and I am stopping it,” the Prime Minister said Anthony Albanese He said.

The legislation will be introduced to Parliament during the final two weeks of its session this year, which begins on November 18. Albanese told reporters that the age limit will come into effect 12 months after the law is passed.

Platforms including X, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook will need to use this year to decide how to exclude Australian children under the age of 16.

“I’ve spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. They, like me, are very concerned about our children’s online safety,” Albanese said.

This proposal comes as governments around the world grapple with how to supervise young people’s use of technologies such as… Smartphones and Social media.

Social media platforms will be penalized for violating the minimum age, but underage children and their parents will not be penalized.

“The burden will be on social media platforms to prove they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access. The responsibility will not fall on parents or young people,” Albanese said.

Antigone Davis, Head of Safety at deadFacebook, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said the company would respect any age restrictions the government wanted to impose.

“What is missing, however, is a deeper discussion about how to implement safeguarding, otherwise we risk making ourselves feel better, as we did, but teens and parents will not find themselves in a better place,” Davis said in a statement.

She added that stronger tools available in app stores and operating systems for parents to control which apps their children can use would be a “simple and effective solution.”

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Tik Tok He declined to comment.

Digital Industry Group Inc, an advocate for Australia’s digital industry, described the age limit as “a 20th century response to 21st century challenges”.

“Rather than denying access through bans, we need to take a balanced approach to creating age-appropriate spaces, building digital literacy and protecting young people from harm online,” Sunita Bose, CEO of DIGI, said in a statement.

more than 140 Australian and international academics With expertise in areas related to technology and child care, an open letter to Albanese last month opposed social media age caps as “too explicit a tool to effectively address risks”.

Jackie Hallan, director of youth mental health service ReachOut, opposed the ban. She said 73% of young people across Australia accessing mental health support did so through social media.

“We are uncomfortable with the ban. We think young people are more likely to circumvent the ban, and our concerns are that it pushes this behavior underground, so if things go wrong, young people are less likely to get support from parents and carers because they are worried about being caught.” “In trouble,” Halan said.

Child psychologist Philip Tamm said a minimum age of 12 or 13 would have been more enforceable.

“My real fear, honestly, is that the social media problem will simply go away,” Tam said.

Associate counsel at the Australian National University, Professor Faith Gordon, fears separating children from their platforms will create stress within families.

Albanese said there would be exceptions and exemptions in circumstances such as the need to continue accessing educational services.

But parental consent does not give a child under 16 the right to access social media.

Earlier this year, the Govt Experiment with age restriction techniques. Australia Electronic Safety Commissionerthe online watchdog that will monitor compliance, will use the results of that trial to provide platforms with guidance on reasonable steps they can take.

Minister of Communications Michel Rolland He said the one-year preliminary period would ensure that the minimum age could be implemented “in a very practical way”.

“There is a need to strengthen sanctions to ensure compliance,” Rowland said.

“Every company operating in Australia, whether based here or otherwise, is expected to comply with Australian law or face the consequences,” she added.

The main opposition party gave initial support for setting the age at 16 years.

Opposition lawmaker Paul Fletcher said the platforms already have the technology to enforce such an age ban.

“It’s not really a question of technical feasibility, it’s a question of how willing they are to do it and will they afford to do it,” Fletcher told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“The platforms are saying: ‘It’s too difficult, we can’t do this, Australia will become a backwater, it’s unlikely to work.’ “But if you have well-crafted legislation and stick to your guns, you can get results,” Fletcher added.