Australia’s Prime Minister on Thursday vowed to ban children under 16 from using social media, saying the pervasive influence of platforms such as Facebook and TikTok was “doing real harm to our children.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:
“This one is for the mums and dads. Social media is doing real harm to kids and I’m calling time on it.”
The age limit has received the approval of the federal cabinet, and the issue will be considered at a cabinet meeting on November 8.
The politician said there would be “difficulties” in implementing the new measures and the law would not fix the situation “immediately.” Albanese cited as an example the measure banning the sale of alcohol to people under 18, which is periodically violated.
Social networks will be responsible for violating the ban and there will be no fines for users, the Australian PM said.
Minimum age for using social media
For the first time, Albanese said in September about the establishment in the country of the minimum age from which a child will be allowed to use the Internet. He claimed that social media was “damaging and depriving children of real friends and real experiences.” The bill was referring to ages 14 to 16.
However, some analysts believe banning social media for children in Australia could lead to social exclusion of teenagers. Youth rights advocates warn that a ban would reduce the social connections of vulnerable young people. Instead, they are calling on technology platforms to better ensure that teens can safely interact with social media. In addition, for adolescents from minority groups, including migrants, the age barrier could deny them access to necessary social support.
A number of countries have already pledged to restrict children’s use of social media through legislation, although Australia’s policy is one of the strictest. Last year, France proposed banning social media use for under-15s, although users could circumvent the ban with parental consent. For decades in the US, technology companies have been required to obtain parental consent to access the data of children under 13, with the result that most social networks prohibit those under that age from using the services.
