Australia Proposes Ban On Children Under 16 Accessing Social Media

JAKARTA - The Australian government will pass a law to prohibit children under the age of 16 from accessing social media. This was conveyed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday, November 7. The move is referred to as a leading policy package in the world that could become law at the end of next year.

Australia is testing an age verification system to help block children from accessing social media platforms, as part of a series of measures that include the most stringent controls implemented by any country to date.

"Social media is damaging our children, and I declare it's time to act," Albanese said at a press conference. He highlighted the risks of physical and mental health faced by children due to excessive use of social media. Especially the risks for girls related to harmful body images and misogynistic content targeted at boys.

"If you are a 14-year-old child who accepts these kinds of things, in times of change and maturity, this can be a very difficult time, and we listen and act," he added.

Some countries have planned to limit the use of social media by children through the law, but Australia's policy is one of the strictest. To date, no jurisdiction has attempted to use age verification methods such as biometrics or government identification to enforce the age limit on social media, which is a testing method in Australia.

Another proposal that is the world's first step from Australia is the highest age limit set by any country, without exception for parental consent or existing accounts.

"The law will be submitted to Australian parliament this year and will take effect 12 months after its approval," Albanese said. The Liberal opposition party expressed its support for the ban.

"There will be no exceptions for children who have parental permission or who already have an account," Albanese said, quoted by VOI from Reuters. "The burden of proof will be on social media platforms to show that they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access. This burden will not be on parents or young people."

Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland added that the affected platform includes Instagram and Facebook from Meta Platforms, as well as TikTok from Bytedance and X from Elon Musk. Alphabet's YouTube is likely to also be included in the scope of the law.

TikTok declined to comment, while Meta, Alphabet, and X did not respond to requests for comment.

The Digital Industry Group, which includes Alphabet's Meta, TikTok, X, and Google as members, states that this move can encourage young people to explore the dark and irregular parts of the internet while cutting off their access to support networks.

"Securing young people online is a top priority... but the ban proposed for teens to access digital platforms is a 20th century response to the challenges of the 21st century," said DIGI Managing Director Sunita Bose.

"Instead of banning access through prohibition, we need to take a balanced approach to creating age-appropriate spaces, building digital literacy, and protecting young people from online harm," he added.

Last year, France proposed a social media ban for those under 15, although users can circumvent the ban with parental permission. In the United States, technology companies for decades are required to seek parental permission to access child data under 13 years of age, which causes most social media platforms to ban children under that age from accessing their services.