Australia Introduces Bill To Ban Social Media For Under-16s

Social media is surely enjoyable. Endless videos of cats being cute, insightful posts about interesting recipes and beverages (remember Dalgona coffee?), short clips of unique and handy products, and more.

Essentially, social media has allowed people from around the world to collaborate like never before, be that for entertainment, education, or expression.

Moreover, these platforms bring a wide range of benefits to businesses by enabling them to reach a wider audience that can be highly targeted based on numerous criteria.

However, there is a dark side to such platforms too. It’s addictive.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering there are 5.17 billion active social media users who spend an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes on social media each day and this only seems to be increasing.

As its usage increases, so do its harmful effects. This has led to numerous governments considering implementing social media usage control measures, especially when it comes to minors and teenagers.

Recently, we reported about over a dozen US state attorneys general sued TikTok for harming the mental health of kids.

This sentiment extended to social media giant Meta as well, where the company was sued by 33 US states, including New York, California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont.

It’s not just addiction that’s a problem though, as the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) named 9 social media platforms of vast surveillance, while Facebook partner CMG used phone microphones to spy and target ads to users.

In response, social media platforms have taken steps to protect their users from such ill effects, even if they ended up being slightly botched.

Now, Australia has made a big move by introducing a landmark bill to protect children and teenagers under the age of 16.

Australia's Move To Ban Social Media

As per a news release published on the Prime Minister of Australia’s official website, the Australian government introduced a world-first bill that enforces a minimum age of 16 years for social media usage.

The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 requires social media platforms to take measures to ensure that users under the required age limit do not possess accounts on their platforms, rather than putting the onus upon parents and young people.

The government, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, will also bring in stronger penalties for systemic breaches, which could see social media platforms fined $49.5 million.

Which Social Media Platforms Will This Affect?

The law will affect platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, X and others.

However, the bill won’t impact important messaging, health, educational and gaming platforms, ensuring that affected users will continue to have access to platforms such as Headspace, Kids Helpline, Google Classroom, YouTube and more.

Ahead of this, the bill will include robust privacy laws, which could require social media platforms to protect or destroy personal information collected from all Australian users.

As such, the laws have been designed after gaining extensive feedback from “young Australians, parents, experts, industry, community organizations and state and territory governments” and will be able to adapt to changes in technology and services.

What Did Australia’s Prime Minister Say?

Speaking about the move, PM Anthony Albanese said, “We know social media is doing social harm. We want Australian children to have a childhood, and we want parents to know the Government is in their corner.”

“This is a landmark reform. We know some kids will find workarounds, but we're sending a message to social media companies to clean up their act.”

The introduction of such a bill has garnered the interest of the UK government too, which is considering enforcing its own ban on social media platforms for under-16 children.

Do you think the Australian government’s move is the correct one? Do you think it will inspire other governments to follow suit?

Let us know in the comments below!