Under bill, platforms like Instagram and X would be given one year to find ways of restricting access to minors.Australia’s centre-left government has introduced a “landmark” bill in parliament to ban children under 16 from social media.
The legislation could see platforms such as X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram slapped with a fine of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($32.5m) if they fail to bar children from holding accounts.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said on Thursday that the proposed law “places the onus on social media platforms, not parents or children, to ensure protections are in place”.
“For too many young Australians, social media can be harmful. Almost two-thirds of 14 to 17-year-old Australians have viewed extremely harmful content online, including drug abuse, suicide or self-harm,” she told parliament.
The bill, which has the support of the governing Labor Party and the opposition Liberals, would grant no exemptions for parental consent or pre-existing accounts. After it becomes law, platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restriction.
The country plans to trial an age-verification system that may include biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media age cut-off, some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date.
However, analysts have expressed doubt it would be technically feasible to enforce a strict age ban.
Katie Maskiell from UNICEF Australia said on Thursday the proposed legislation would not be a “solve-all” for protecting children and that much more needed to be done.
She expressed fears that the law might risk pushing …