Australia Makes Law On Banning Social Media For Children Under 16

UNSPLASH/Igor ILLUSTRATION Omilaev

JAKARTA - The Australian government will draft a law banning social media for children under the age of 16.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called this draft rule a leading action in the world that could become law by 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 some of the strictest controls imposed by any country to date.

"Social media harms our children and I ask for time to deal with it," Albanese told a news conference.

Albanese mentions the risks to children's physical and mental health due to excessive use of social media, particularly risks to girls due to harmful body image depictions, and misogynistic content aimed at boys.

"If you're a 14 year old kid who's been through this, when you're changing your life and growing up, it can be a very difficult time and all we do is listen and then act," he said.

A number of countries previously pledged to limit the use of social media by children through the law, although Australia's policy is one of the strictest policies.

So far no jurisdiction has tried using age verification methods such as biometrics or government identification to impose age constraints on social media, two of which are being tested.

Another of Australia's first proposals in the world is the highest age limit set by any country, no exceptions for parental consent and no exceptions for pre-existing accounts.

The law will be submitted to Australian parliament this year, and the law will take effect 12 months after it is ratified by lawmakers, Albanese said.

The opposition party, Liberal Party, expressed its support for the ban.

"The responsibility lies with social media platforms to show that they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access," Albanese said.

"The responsibility is not on the elderly or the younger generation," he continued.

"What we are announcing here and what we are going to invite will really be at the forefront of the world," said Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.

Rowland said the affected platforms would include Meta Platforms, Instagram and Facebook, as well as Elon Musk's Bytedance and X TikTok including YouTube, likely also included in the scope. the law.