Australia to ban social media for children under 16

Australia is to ban social networking sites for children under the age of 16, in a bid to reduce the “harm caused to young people” by the platforms.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the measures on Thursday, after his government’s decision on Monday.

“Social media is harming our children and I’m calling time on it,” Albanese said at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. “I have spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. They, like me, are concerned about our children’s online safety.”

“We do not dispute that the changes we will enact will fix everything quickly,” he added. “We have laws such as people not being able to buy alcohol if they are under 18, and occasionally that can be broken. But those laws set the boundaries for our society and help ensure fair outcomes.”

Albanese said the law would not allow exemptions for users under the age of 16 with parental consent, and would not accept “major provisions” for young people who are already on social media.

The government intends to put “the burden will be on social media” instead of parents and young people. Big tech companies are making some progress in this space – for example, Instagram recently added New Accounts, a highly restricted way for under-16s to use the app.

Most social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat do not allow users under the age of 13 to create accounts, with different levels of restrictions for users under the age of 16 and 18. However, in August, the US Department of Justice sued TikTok for allegedly violating the Children’s Internet. Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), to allow children to create accounts without parental consent and collect personal information from children under the age of 13. It is one of several lawsuits across the US against TikTok on child safety grounds.

Studies on youth, mental health, and social media are not readily available. In his speech, the prime minister called out the campaigns run by Australian media organizations about the law, particularly the controversial “Let them Be Children” campaign run by NewsCorp. Social change initiative 36Months, which has campaigned to ban social media for under-16s in Australia, was also at Parliament House on Wednesday.

So, what is the timeline for Australia’s social media ban?

The Australian government will decide the details of the law at a national cabinet meeting on Friday, the law will be presented to Parliament in two weeks, and will come into force 12 months after it is passed. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said that “the social media companies have been notified”, and stressed that there is a year before the law comes into effect.

The new legal definition of age restrictions on social media will be changed from Australia’s current Internet Safety Act. Passed in 2021, the country’s online harm prevention law, like the UK version. The eSafety Commissioner, Australia’s independent internet safety regulator, will “provide oversight and enforcement” by issuing regulatory guidance for social media.

OK, which social networks will be banned in Australia?

When asked about specific social networks, Rowland clarified, “Regarding the services that will be managed, there will be a definition in the Law. But I think it is generally understood that those definitions of what constitutes social networks include the likes of Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X. YouTube may also fall into that definition.”

How will social media bans be enforced in Australia?

In short, it is not yet clear how the social media ban will be enforced, as the prime minister said “there will be no penalties for users.” When asked about the age restrictions and the actions around them (how the identification will work etc.), Rowland said that an “age verification test” will take place next year, when the government evaluates the individual methods of the platforms and whether they are sufficient.

“There will need to be steps taken to ensure that appropriate steps are taken by the stadiums to ensure that the age limit is followed,” he said.

“These platforms know their users better than anyone. These platforms understand their habits, their skills, what kind of content should be pushed to them and what their behavior is. So this year we’re going to take on implementation, that’s going to be a key focus.”

For more on online safety for kids, Mashable has you covered.