The Australian government has announced plans to introduce “world-leading” legislation to ban children under 16 from social media.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the proposed law, to be tabled in parliament next week, aims to mitigate 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.
While many of the details were yet to be debated, the government said the ban would not apply to young people already on social media.
There will be no exceptions to the age limit for minors who have parental consent.
The government indicated that it will be the responsibility of social media platforms to demonstrate that they are making adequate efforts to restrict access.
Albanese said there would be no penalties for users, and that it would be up to Australia’s online regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, to enforce the laws.
The legislation would come into force 12 months after it passes and be subject to a review after it becomes operational.
While most experts agree that social media platforms can harm the mental health of adolescents, many are split over the efficacy of trying to outlaw them altogether.
Some experts argue that bans only delay young people’s exposure to apps such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, instead of teaching them how to navigate complex online spaces early.
Previous attempts at restricting access, including by the European Union (EU), have largely failed or faced backlash from tech firms.
And questions remain over how implementation would work given there are tools that can circumvent age-verification requirements.
One of Australia’s largest advocacy groups for child rights has criticised the proposed ban as “too blunt an instrument”.
In an open letter sent to the government in October, signed by over 100 academics and 20 civil society organisations, the Australian Child Rights Taskforce called on Albanese to instead look at imposing “safety standards” on social media platforms.
The group also pointed to UN advice that “national policies” designed to regulate online spaces “should be aimed at providing children with the opportunity to benefit from engaging with the digital environment and ensuring their safe access to it.”
But other grassroots campaigners have lobbied Australia’s government for the laws, saying bans were needed to protect children from harmful content, misinformation, bullying, and other social pressures.
A petition by the 36Months initiative, which has over 125,000 signatures, argued that children a
were “not yet ready to navigate online social networks safely” until at least 16, and that currently “excessive social media use is rewiring young brains within a critical window of psychological development, causing an epidemic of mental illness”.
When asked whether there should be broader efforts to educate children about how to navigate the benefits and risks of being online, Albanese said that such an approach would be insufficient because it “assumes an equal power relationship.
“I don’t know about you, but I get things popping up on my system that I don’t want to see. Let alone a vulnerable 14-year-old,” he told reporters on Thursday.
“These tech companies are incredibly powerful. These apps have algorithms that drive people towards certain behaviour.”
