Australia is to ban children from social media and introduce a minimum age that could be as high as 16.
- Federal legislation is being introduced this year to keep children off social media
Australia will ban children from using social media, the minimum age for which will be 16, the prime minister announced on Tuesday, promising to get children off their mobile devices and “get them on the football field”.
Anthony Albanese says federal legislation is being introduced this year to keep kids off social media, describing the sites’ impact on young people as a “plague.”
The minimum age for children to log in to sites like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok has not yet been determined, but is expected to be between 14 and 16, Albanese said.
The prime minister indicated that he would prefer to block users under the age of 16.
The centre-left leader said age-verification trials would be held in the coming months, although analysts doubt whether it would be technically possible to enforce an age limit online.
Federal legislation aimed at keeping kids off social media will be introduced this year, according to Anthony Albanese, who described the sites’ impact on young people as a “plague.”
The prime minister said he himself would prefer to block users under the age of 16
“I want kids to put their phones away and go to the soccer fields, the swimming pools and the tennis courts,” Albanese said.
“We want them to have real experiences with real people because we know that social media is causing social harm,” he told national broadcaster ABC.
“This is a plague. We know there are mental health consequences to what many young people have had to go through,” he said.
Australia’s conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton said he would support an age limit.
“Every day we are late leaves young children vulnerable to the dangers of social media and the time we spend relying on technology companies to enforce age limits,” he said.
But it’s not clear whether the technology exists to reliably enforce such bans, said Toby Murray, a senior lecturer in computer and information technology at the University of Melbourne.
“We already know that current age verification methods are unreliable, too easy to bypass, and compromise user privacy,” he said.
Analysts warn that an age limit will in no way help children in trouble.
“There is a serious risk of harm being done by young people being excluded from meaningful, healthy participation in the digital world,” said Daniel Angus, head of the digital media research centre at Queensland University of Technology.
“There is logic in setting boundaries that limit young people’s access,” said Samantha Schulz, a senior sociologist in education at the University of Adelaide.
‘However, young people are not the problem and regulating young people misses the more urgent task of regulating irresponsible social media platforms. Social media is an unavoidable part of young people’s lives.’
Age verification tests will be held in the coming months, the leader of the centre-left camp said.
Analysts warn that an age limit will not help children in trouble under any circumstances
The prime minister said parents expect a response to online bullying and harmful material on social media.
“These social media companies think they are above the rest,” he told a radio interviewer.
“Well, they have a social responsibility and right now they’re not exercising it. And we’re determined to make sure they do,” he said.
Australia is at the forefront of global efforts to regulate social media platforms, with the online safety watchdog clashing with Elon Musk’s X over the content shared on these platforms.