Australia Proposes Social Media Ban for Children Under 16

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that the government is set to introduce legislation to ban social media access for children under 16, a measure the government calls “world-leading.” To enforce the policy, Australia is trialing an age-verification system aimed at blocking children from using social media platforms, with the potential for the ban to take effect by the end of next year.

“Social media is doing harm to our kids, and I’m calling time on it,” Albanese stated in a news conference, highlighting the risks social media poses to children’s physical and mental health. He noted particular concerns over negative body image influences on girls and misogynistic content targeting boys. Albanese emphasized the importance of protecting young people during their developmental years.

The proposed legislation will be introduced this year, with the ban to be implemented a year after parliamentary approval. Notably, the policy includes no exemptions for children with parental consent or for those who already have accounts. The responsibility for enforcing the ban will be placed on social media platforms themselves, rather than on parents or children.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland confirmed that platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) would be affected by the legislation, with YouTube also likely to be included.

Australia’s stringent policy is among the strictest globally, surpassing similar measures in countries like France, where parental consent provides some flexibility for those under 15. In the United States, companies are required to obtain parental consent to collect data from users under 13, but Australia’s proposed policy aims to take restrictions a step further by imposing a hard ban on users under 16.

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