The Australian government is planning a legislative framework that would ban social media use for children aged under 16, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Thursday.
Australia is testing an age-verification system aimed at preventing children from accessing social media platforms. This initiative is part of a series of measures that represent some of the strictest controls put in place by any country so far.
“Social media is doing harm to our kids, and I’m calling time on it,” Albanese said at a press conference. “I want parents to be able to say: ‘Sorry, mate, it’s against the law’.”
The PM is planning to introduce the new laws to protect the mental well-being of young people. Under new regulations, social media companies would be obliged to prevent child usage, while parents and children would not be held responsible in case of violations.
“The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access,” said Albanese. “The onus won’t be on parents or young people.”
Albanese highlighted potential risks to physical and mental health of underage users from excessive social media use, including unrealistic depictions of body image for girls and misogynistic content pushed towards boys.
“If you’re a 14-year-old kid getting this stuff, at a time where you’re going through life’s changes and maturing, it can be a really difficult time and what we’re doing is listening and then acting,” he said.
While a number of countries are proposing laws aimed at curbing child social media use, Australia has been introducing some of the toughest.
The proposed legislation has drawn a strong reaction from its opponents.
“Rather than blocking access through bans, we need to take a balanced approach to create age-appropriate spaces, build digital literacy and protect young people from online harm,” says Sunita Bose, managing director The Digital Industry Group (DIGI), which represents Meta, Google, X, and other platforms as members.
The legislation will be presented in the Australian parliament this year and come into effect 12 months after ratification by lawmakers.
