Australia has a ban on social media for under 16s
Age and Privacy Protections for Social Media Users in the Age of Digital Adversacies: Implications of a New Social Media Age Law
The new law is scheduled to come into effect in 12 months, giving social media companies time to meet the requirements. Children who are not reached a minimum age to have an account can be prevented from doing so. Parents will not face punishment if their children violate these upcoming restrictions, as the responsibility lies with platform providers.
Critics argue the government is attempting to convince parents it is protecting their children ahead of a general election due by May. The government is hoping voters will reward them for responding to parents’ concerns about their child’s addiction to social media. Some argue the legislation could cause more harm than it prevents.
While specific platforms haven’t been named in the law, the rules are expected to apply to the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, per the Prime Minister. Sites used for education, including YouTube, would be exempt, as are messaging apps like WhatsApp.
The legislation doesn’t specify how tech companies will enforce the new age restrictions, but those that fail to do so would face fines of up to $50 million AUS (about $32.4 million US). The law does not require users to upload government IDs as part of the verification process.
Meta criticized the bill when it was introduced in the Australian parliament last week, calling it “inconsistent and ineffective.” The company urged the Australian government to delay passing the legislation, citing “uncertainty surrounding the ‘reasonable steps’ that need to be taken” for impacted platforms to enforce it. X owner Elon Musk has also slammed the law, alleging that it seems like “a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians.”
The law will make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts.
The amendments bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver’s licenses, nor could they demand digital identification through a government system.
“The core focus of this legislation is simple: It demands that social media companies take reasonable steps to identify and remove underage users from their platforms,” Kovacic told the Senate.
Sen. David Shoebridge, from the minority Greens party, said mental health experts agreed that the ban could dangerously isolate many children who used social media to find support.
“This policy will hurt vulnerable young people the most, especially in regional communities and especially the LGBTQI community, by cutting them off,” Shoebridge told the Senate.
The State of the Digital Age: A Critique of Online Parenting, Sextortion, and Cybercrime as a Tool for the Prevention of Suicide in Australia
She said that these companies should have been fulfilling this responsibility long ago, but they have shirked it in favor of profit.
Online safety campaigner Sonya Ryan, whose 15-year-old daughter Carly was murdered by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager online, described the Senate vote as a “monumental moment in protecting our children from horrendous harms online.”
“It’s too late for my daughter, Carly, and the many other children who have suffered terribly and those who have lost their lives in Australia, but let us stand together on their behalf and embrace this together,” she told the AP in an email.
The father of a boy who took his own life after being victim to an online sextortion scam had advocated for the age restriction, and took pride in its passage.
“After today’s Senate decision, I am bursting with pride,” Holdsworth told the AP in an email.
Christopher Stone, executive director of Suicide Prevention Australia, the governing body for the suicide prevention sector, said the legislation failed to consider positive aspects of social media in supporting young people’s mental health and sense of connection.
The government is running into a brick wall because of the haste of the legislation. Stone said the young Australians deserved evidence based policies not decisions made in haste.
The platforms had complained that the law would be unworkable, and had urged the Senate to delay the vote until at least June next year when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies made its report on how young children could be excluded.
The legislation was rushed through the Parliament without adequate scrutiny, poses privacy risks for all users, and undermines the authority of parents to make decisions for their children.
Social media platforms including Instagram and TikTok will be liable for fines of up to AU$30 million (around 220 crore) if they fail to comply with Australia’s social media age law. Under the law, platforms will have to take “reasonable steps” to remove underage users from their platforms. The bill passed the Australian Parliament last week.