MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥 The Australian government announced on Thursday what it described as world-leading legislation that would institute an age limit of 16 years for children to start using social media, and hold platforms responsible for ensuring compliance.
鈥淪ocial media is doing harm to our kids and I鈥檓 calling time on it,鈥 Prime Minister said.
The legislation will be introduced in Parliament during its final two weeks in session this year, which begin on Nov. 18. The age limit would take effect 12 months after the law is passed, Albanese told reporters.
The platforms including X, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook would need to use that year to work out how to exclude Australian children younger than 16.
鈥淚鈥檝e spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online,鈥 Albanese said.
The proposal comes as governments around the world are wrestling with how to supervise young people's use of technologies like and .
Social media platforms would be penalized for breaching the age limit, but under-age children and their parents would not.
鈥淭he onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access. The onus won鈥檛 be on parents or young people,鈥 Albanese said.
Antigone Davis, head of safety at , which owns Facebook and Instagram, said the company would respect any age limitations the government wants to introduce.
鈥淗owever, what鈥檚 missing is a deeper discussion on how we implement protections, otherwise we risk making ourselves feel better, like we have taken action, but teens and parents will not find themselves in a better place,鈥 Davis said in a statement.
She added that stronger tools in app stores and operating systems for parents to control what apps their children can use would be a 鈥渟imple and effective solution.鈥
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. declined to comment.
The Digital Industry Group Inc., an advocate for the digital industry in Australia, described the age limit as a 鈥20th Century response to 21st Century challenges.鈥
鈥淩ather than blocking access through bans, we need to take a balanced approach to create age-appropriate spaces, build digital literacy and protect young people from online harm,鈥 DIGI managing director Sunita Bose said in a statement.
More than with expertise in fields related to technology and child welfare signed an open letter to Albanese last month opposing a social media age limit as 鈥渢oo blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.鈥
Jackie Hallan, a director at the youth mental health service ReachOut, opposed the ban. She said 73% of young people across Australia accessing mental health support did so through social media.
鈥淲e鈥檙e uncomfortable with the ban. We think young people are likely to circumvent a ban and our concern is that it really drives the behavior underground and then if things go wrong, young people are less likely to get support from parents and carers because they鈥檙e worried about getting in trouble,鈥 Hallan said.
Child psychologist Philip Tam said a minimum age of 12 or 13 would have been more enforceable.
鈥淢y real fear honestly is that the problem of social media will simply be driven underground,鈥 Tam said.
Australian 春色直播 University lawyer Associate Prof. Faith Gordon feared separating children from there platforms could create pressures within families.
Albanese said there would be exclusions and exemptions in circumstances such as a need to continue access to educational services.
But parental consent would not entitle a child under 16 to access social media.
Earlier this year, the government began a . Australia鈥檚 , the online watchdog that will police compliance, will use the results of that trial to provide platforms with guidance on what reasonable steps they can take.
Communications Minister said the year-long lead-in would ensure the age limit could be implemented in a 鈥渧ery practical way.鈥
鈥淭here does need to be enhanced penalties to ensure compliance,鈥 Rowland said.
鈥淓very company that operates in Australia, whether domiciled here or otherwise, is expected and must comply with Australian law or face the consequences,鈥 she added.
The main opposition party has given in-principle support for an age limit at 16.
Opposition lawmaker Paul Fletcher said the platforms already had the technology to enforce such an age ban.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not really a technical viability question, it鈥檚 a question of their readiness to do it and will they incur the cost to do it,鈥 Fletcher told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
鈥淭he platforms say: 鈥橧t's all too hard, we can鈥檛 do it, Australia will become a backwater, it won鈥檛 possibly work.' But if you have well-drafted legislation and you stick to your guns, you can get the outcomes,鈥 Fletcher added.
