Australia's social media ban for children under sixteen
Australia has banned children under sixteen from using social media. Australia is the first country in the world to have such a ban. The new legislation was passed in the House of Representatives with overwhelming support (102 votes to 13). The Senate too approved the ban by 34 votes to 19.
The new law makes social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars if they fail to prevent children below sixteen from holding accounts. The ban, however, does not include YouTube.
Social media platforms now have one year to work out how to implement the ban before penalties are enforced. Interestingly, neither underage users nor their parents will face punishment for violations. Mr. Albanese admits that he expects some kids to find workarounds, but he wants to send a message to social media companies to clean up their act.
Implementing this ban will be tricky and social media companies are yet to come up with an action plan. The law specifies that userswill not be forced to provide government identification as part of the verification process, a measure that was included after the conservative opposition raised concerns about privacy rights.
A YouGov poll found that 77 percent of Australians support the ban, up from 61 percent in August, reported NBC News.
Opponents of the ban, such as Minority Greens party's Senator David Shoebridge, have said that the ban could dangerously isolate many children who used social media to find support.
Christopher Stone, executive director of Suicide Prevention Australia, said the legislation failed to consider positive aspects of social media in supporting young people’s mental health and sense of connection.
Last week, Elon Musk, the owner of X, opined that the bill is 'a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians'.
France last year passed a law requiring parental consent for social media users under 15, after which France started pushing for similar measures across the European Union. Florida this year imposed a ban for users under 14 and required parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds.
Personally, I have mixed feeling about this ban. I have seen many friends and kids under sixteen being addicted to social media. I have also seen an overwhelming number of children use it sparingly or under parental supervision and benefit from it. I have, for many years, wished for a ban on video games that target children and wonder why such a ban didn’t come first.
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