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Title: Australia introduces a bill that would ban children under 16 from
social media

Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2024 17:45:47 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/social-media/austral...

AustraliaΓÇÖs majority party has introduced a bill in Parliament that would
ban children under 16 from social media. The legislation, which would put the
onus on social platforms rather than children or parents, could fine
infringing companies up to AUD$49.5 million ($32.2 million).

The Labor PartyΓÇÖs bill would apply to (among others) Snapchat, TikTok,
Instagram and X. It would require platforms to cordon off and destroy any
underage user data collected. However, the legislation would include
exceptions for health and education services, like Headspace, Google
Classroom and YouTube.

ΓÇ£For too many young Australians, social media can be harmful. Almost two-
thirds of 14- to 17-year-old Australians have viewed extremely harmful
content online, including drug abuse, suicide or self-harm, as well as
violent material,ΓÇ¥ Australia Communications Minister Michelle Rowland told
Parliament on Thursday. ΓÇ£A quarter have been exposed to content promoting
unsafe eating habits.ΓÇ¥

Reuters notes that the law would be one of the most aggressive globally in
tackling the problems related to childrenΓÇÖs social media use. It wouldnΓÇÖt
include exemptions for parental consent or pre-existing accounts.
Essentially, social platforms would have to police their platforms to ensure
no child under 16 can use their services.

The bill is supported by the majority (center-left) Labor Party and
opposition (right) Liberal Party. ΓÇ£This is a landmark reform,ΓÇ¥ Australian
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. ΓÇ£We know some kids will find
workarounds, but weΓÇÖre sending a message to social media companies to clean
up their act.ΓÇ¥

The (left) Australian Greens have criticized the legislation, saying it
ignores expert evidence in ΓÇ£rammingΓÇ¥ the law through Parliament without
proper scrutiny. ΓÇ£The recent Parliamentary Inquiry into Social Media heard
time and time again that an age-ban will not make social media safer for
anyone,ΓÇ¥ Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said in a statement. ΓÇ£[The bill] is
complicated to implement and will have unintended consequences for young
people.ΓÇ¥

Last year, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy sounded the alarm about the risks
of underage social media use. ΓÇ£Children and adolescents who spend more than
3 hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems
including experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety,ΓÇ¥ the 2023
advisory from the Surgeon GeneralΓÇÖs office read.

The US requires tech companies to seek parental consent to access the data of
children under 13, but it doesnΓÇÖt have any age restrictions. Reuters notes
that France enacted a social media ban for children under 15 last year, but
it allows children to still access the services with parental consent.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/austral...
ban-children-under-16-from-social-media-174547712.html?src=rss

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