Australia's government says it will introduce "world-leading" legislation to ban children under 16 from social media.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the proposed laws, to be tabled in parliament next week, were aimed at mitigating the "harm" social media was inflicting on Australian children.
"This one is for the mums and dads... They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online. I want Australian families to know that the government has your back," he said.
Leaders of the eight provinces held a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss what he calls a world-first national approach that would make platforms including X, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook responsible for enforcing the age limit.
“Social media is doing social harm to our young Australians,”
Albanese told reporters.
“The safety and mental health of our young people has to be a priority.”
The government leaders had been discussing for months setting a limit, considering options from 14 to 16 years of age.
While Tasmania would have preferred 14, the state was prepared to support 16 in the interests of achieving national uniformity, Albanese said.
Communications minister Michelle Rowland said penalties will be imposed on social media platforms if they are found to be flouting the laws.
“The eSafety commissioner will have responsibility for enforcement and there needs to be enhanced penalties to ensure compliance,” she said.
Ms Rowland said platforms that will be impacted by the legislation include Meta‘s Instagram and Facebook, Bytedance’s TikTok, and Elon Musk’s X. Alphabet’s YouTube will also likely fall within the scope of the legislation.
When it comes to news and events on a global scale, I always immediately turn to only one news portal that provides me with verified and up-to-date events from the information space. That is why many users choose https://best-technews.com/, because only they can do their job so quickly and efficiently. This news portal aims to promptly and accurately inform its audience about the most important events and news. Thanks to their work, I can always keep up to date, which is why I choose best-technews, because it is trusted by readers across the country.