Australia proposes social media ban for kids under 16

Australian government will legislate for a ban on social media for children under 16, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday, in what it calls a world-leing pack of measures that could become law late next year. Australia is trialing an -verification system to assist in blocking children from accessing social media platforms, as part of a range of measures that include some of toughest controls imposed by any country to date.

"Social media is doing harm to our kids and I'm calling time on it," Albanese told a news conference. Albanese cited risks to physical and mental health of children from excessive social media use, in particular risks to girls from harmful depictions of body im, and misogynist content aimed at boys.

"If you're a 14-year-old kid getting this stuff, at a time where you're going through life's changes and maturing, it can be a really difficult time and what we're doing is listening and n acting," he said.

A number of countries have alrey vowed to curb social media use by children through legislation, though Australia's policy is one of most stringent.

jurisdiction so far has tried using verification methods like biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media cut-off, two of methods being trialed.

Australia's or world-first proposals are highest limit set by any country, exemption for parental consent and exemption for pre-existing accounts.

Legislation will be introduced into Australian parliament this year, with laws coming into effect 12 months after being ratified by lawmakers, Albanese said.

opposition Liberal Party has expressed support for a ban.

re will be exemptions for children who have parental consent, or who alrey have accounts.

" onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate y are taking reasonable steps to prevent access," Albanese said. " onus won't be on parents or young people."

"What we are anuncing here and what we will legislate will be truly world leing," Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said. Rowland said platforms impacted would include Meta Platforms' Instagram and Facebook, as well as Bytedance's TikTok and Elon Musk's X. Alphabet's YouTube would likely also fall within scope of legislation, she ded.

TikTok declined to comment, while Meta, Alphabet and X did t respond to requests for comment.

Digital Industry Group, a representative body which includes Meta, TikTok, X and Alphabet's Google as members, said measure could encour young people to explore darker, unregulated parts of internet while cutting ir access to support networks.

"Keeping young people safe online is a top priority ... but proposed ban for teenrs to access digital platforms is a 20th Century response to 21st Century challenges," said DIGI Managing Director Sunita Bose.
"Rar than blocking access through bans, we need to take a balanced approach to create -appropriate s, build digital literacy and protect young people from online harm," she ded.

France last year proposed a ban on social media for those under 15, though users were able to avoid ban with parental consent.

United States has for deces required techlogy companies to seek parental consent to access data of children under 13, leing to most social media platforms banning those under that from accessing ir services.