Australia passes world-first law banning children from social media

The Australian Senate has passed a law banning the use of social media by children and teenagers under 16.

The parliament passed the bill on Thursday with 39 votes to 19 opposing votes, making the country the first in the world to have such legislation.

Under the new law, social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Reddit, X, Snapchat, and Instagram will be fined $33 million if they fail to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts on these websites.

YouTube is, however, exempted from the ban because it is used in schools.

The House of Representatives passed the legislation on Wednesday, with 102 representatives supporting it and only 13 representatives voting in opposition.

Government defends law

The bill was introduced to parliament last week, with just three sitting days left on the parliamentary calendar. However, the Australian government has defended the decision, saying that it was “necessary to protect the mental health and well-being” of users.

However, social media companies will be prohibited from requiring users to provide government-issued identification, including digital IDs, to verify their age.

Earlier, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said social media was “doing social harm.”

“We want Australian children to have a childhood, and we want parents to know the government is in their corner. This is a landmark reform. We know some kids will find workarounds, but we’re sending a message to social media companies to clean up their act,” he said.

Many social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, have policies restricting users under a certain age, typically 13, from creating accounts.

However, these policies are often ignored. Moreover, some platforms have been accused of designing their algorithms to increase user engagement, including among teenagers, potentially leading to addictive behaviours.

Advocacy against ban

After the bill was introduced, the parliament received 15,000 submissions in a day, some of which stood against its approval.

Amongst them is Amnesty International, which recommended that the bill not be passed.

Academics and advocacy groups had warned that the ban could have unintended consequences, such as driving teenagers to the dark web or exacerbating feelings of isolation.

The Australian Human Rights Commission, an independent government body, raised “serious reservations” about the law.

It said, “There are less restrictive alternatives that could protect children and young people from online harms without significantly infringing on other human rights.

“One such alternative would be imposing a legal duty of care on social media companies. Additionally, we need to equip children and young people with the tools to navigate online spaces more effectively by incorporating digital literacy and online safety into the national curriculum.”

The CEO of Save the Children, Mat Tinkler, also stated that while he welcomes the government’s efforts to protect children from online harm, the solution should focus on regulating social media companies rather than implementing a blanket ban.

According to reports, there are questions about how it will work in practice. Many worry that the process was rushed and that users should not be asked to prove their age as it would lead to social media companies being handed valuable personal data.

Meta, Elon Musk responds

In response to the age ban legislation, the tech giant Meta asked that the bill be delayed.

Meta, in a statement issued on Tuesday, expressed concerns that the government is rushing the legislation without sufficient consultation or evidence, highlighting many uncertainties about its implementation.

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“The government’s approach will likely require each app provider to collect personal identification or biometric data from all Australians to prevent under-16s from accessing their services, an inefficient and burdensome process for everyone,” it wrote.

Meta also pointed out that a policy on Instagram was introduced earlier this year that limits who can contact teenage users and works to moderate the content they see.

Similarly, Elon Musk condemned the Australian bill in a post shared on X, describing it as “a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians.”