Australia to ban kids under 16 from using social media in world-first

Australia is set to ban children under 16 from social media after landmark legislation passed the country’s parliament.
In a world-first, children and teenagers will be prohibited from using social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook from next year.
The government argued the ban was necessary to protect children’s mental health and wellbeing.
Under the laws, social media platforms could face fines of up to $33 million for failing to take “reasonable steps” to prevent children from holding accounts.
Messaging apps and online gaming services will be excluded from the ban, as well as YouTube, which does not require people to log in to access it.
Platforms would not be allowed to force users to provide government-issued ID’s including passports or driver’s licenses.
The Senate passed the bill 34 votes to 19. The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the legislation by 102 votes to 13.
Opposition Senator Maria Kovacic said the bill was necessary.
“This is a responsibility these companies should have been fulfilling long ago, but for too long they have shirked these responsibilities in favor of profit,” she told the Senate.
Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it was concerned the legislation had been “rushed,” and failed to “properly consider the evidence, what industry already does to ensure age-appropriate experiences, and the voices of young people.”
Greens party Senator David Shoebridge said mental health experts agreed that the ban could isolate 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.
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, said the ban was a “monumental moment.”
“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.