Australia mulls bringing law to ban social media for children under 16 – report

Australia intends to bring a legislation to ban social media for children under the age of 16, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Reuters reported.

The government calls it a world-leading package of measures that could become a law late next year, the report added.

The country is experimenting with an age-verification system to help in blocking children from accessing social media platforms, as part of several measures which include some of the toughest curbs imposed by any country to date, the report noted.

“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Albanese said in a news conference, according to the report.

Albanese cited risks to the physical and mental health of children from an excess use of social media use, mainly the risks to girls from harmful depictions of body image, and misogynist content targeting boys, the report noted.

So far, no region has tried using age verification methods such as biometrics or government identification to bring a threshold age for accessing social media, two of the methods being trialed, the report noted.

Australia’s other world-first proposals are the highest age limit set by any nation, no exemption for parental consent and no exemption for pre-existing accounts, as per the report.

Albanese noted that the legislation will be brought in the Australian parliament this year, and the laws would come into effect 12 months after being approved by lawmakers.

“The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access,” Albanese noted. The onus will not be be on parents or young people, he added.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said social media platforms which could be impacted, include Instagram and Facebook from Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Bytedance’s (BDNCE) TikTok and X, formerly Twitter. Alphabet’s (GOOGL) (GOOG) YouTube could also fall within the ambit of the legislation.

The Digital Industry Group — a representative entity, which includes Meta, TikTok, X and Google as members — said the measure could encourage young people to explore darker, unregulated areas of the internet while removing their access to support networks, the report noted.

Digital Industry Group’s Managing Director Sunita Bose said that rather than blocking access via bans, a balanced approach is needed to create age-appropriate spaces, build digital literacy and protect young people from online harm.

Last year, France proposed a curb on social media for those under 15, however users were able to avoid the ban with consent from parents. For several years, the U.S. has required technology companies to ask for parental consent to access the data of children under 13, leading to several social media companies banning those under this from accessing services, the report added.