The Australian government just made history by introducing a new bill in the Parliament that is designed to ban social media for all kids below the age of 16.
The country’s center-left government has been in discussions about the matter for a while now and it’s now finally taking shape as it enters the Parliament. Anyone who goes against the law will be penalized and tech giants could face fines that go up to $32M for any breach.
Australia is making plans to experiment with the age verification system that could entail biometrics or identification that enforces a social media age limit. Some tough controls might come into play that are imposed by a certain nation to date.
The latest proposal is certainly the highest age restriction rolled out by any nation and therefore there might be no exemption for consent from parents as well as the clause linked to accounts that pre-existed in the past.
The country’s prime minister says the landmark reform is one where kids will try to search for workarounds to go against the barrier but he hopes social media giants can understand the issue and cooperate.
The country’s opposition party is also in favor of the bill and vowed to support the bill but others such as those working independently and the nation’s Green Party are in search of more details for this law.
The ruling is major and bound to affect major companies like Meta, TikTok, X, Snapchat, and more. While all kids will get access to messaging, online games, and health or educational content online, the other kinds of content that we commonly come across will be banned.
The news comes after the country argued about the long use of social media and how that’s been leading to a growing number of physical and mental health issues in the youth. This has to do with young females in particular who idealize what they see online in terms of body image and young males who are attracted to misogynist material.
Several nations are already in favor of such a ban on social media use by kids but out of all the countries observed, this law by Australia appears to be the strictest of them all. Meanwhile, France also rolled out a similar ban for under 15-year users but many could avoid this by taking consent from parents.
Image: DIW-Aigen
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The country’s center-left government has been in discussions about the matter for a while now and it’s now finally taking shape as it enters the Parliament. Anyone who goes against the law will be penalized and tech giants could face fines that go up to $32M for any breach.
Australia is making plans to experiment with the age verification system that could entail biometrics or identification that enforces a social media age limit. Some tough controls might come into play that are imposed by a certain nation to date.
The latest proposal is certainly the highest age restriction rolled out by any nation and therefore there might be no exemption for consent from parents as well as the clause linked to accounts that pre-existed in the past.
The country’s prime minister says the landmark reform is one where kids will try to search for workarounds to go against the barrier but he hopes social media giants can understand the issue and cooperate.
The country’s opposition party is also in favor of the bill and vowed to support the bill but others such as those working independently and the nation’s Green Party are in search of more details for this law.
The ruling is major and bound to affect major companies like Meta, TikTok, X, Snapchat, and more. While all kids will get access to messaging, online games, and health or educational content online, the other kinds of content that we commonly come across will be banned.
The news comes after the country argued about the long use of social media and how that’s been leading to a growing number of physical and mental health issues in the youth. This has to do with young females in particular who idealize what they see online in terms of body image and young males who are attracted to misogynist material.
Several nations are already in favor of such a ban on social media use by kids but out of all the countries observed, this law by Australia appears to be the strictest of them all. Meanwhile, France also rolled out a similar ban for under 15-year users but many could avoid this by taking consent from parents.
Read next: Google Fights Back Against DOJ’s ‘Radical’ Claim Of Selling Chrome, Warns Of Devastating Consequences
