Kids to be banned from social media after govt rams through sweeping world-first laws
Children aged under 16 will be banned from using social media in Australia after world-first legislation was voted through late Thursday.
Labor secured the Coalition’s support for the laws, which will come into effect from the end of next year.
Social media companies that flout the ban could face fines of up to $50 million.
The legislation cleared the Senate as the government rammed through 32 bills on the final sitting day of the year.
It is expected to be rubber-stamped on Friday.
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and X will be the platforms captured under the ban, which has made headlines worldwide.
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Exemptions will apply for health and education services, including YouTube, Messenger Kids, WhatsApp, Kids Helpline and Google Classroom.
The ban will come into effect 12 months after the laws pass the parliament, as the federal government is still running age-verification technology trials.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has said social media users won’t be forced to hand over government-issued IDs, including passports, to verify their age.
But it’s unclear how age will be confirmed without identity verification, a parliamentary committee found.
Concerns have been raised by social media companies, individuals, and human rights groups that the laws have been rushed through without proper scrutiny, with Australia the first country to implement such a ban.
Nationals senator Matt Canavan has said the definition of social media should be narrowed, and tech companies should be banned from using the data from identity documents.
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The committee found while protecting children was a legitimate aim and the ban could be capable of that, it’s not clear the measures would be a proportionate limit on their rights.
Human rights groups and mental health services oppose a total ban, warning vulnerable children could be isolated from accessing support. Improving safety is a better approach, they have argued.
ESafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant has said while children needed to be protected online, marginalised kids still needed a way to connect with others.
Workplace Minister Murray Watt said the laws would help keep children safe.
“The important step that’s now taken by the parliament is to set the age limit and give confidence to families and kids that they will be protected from the kind of online harm we see proliferating around the world,” he told ABC TV on Friday.
“This is one of the challenging balances we’ve had to come up with because we do recognise that social media and online forms of communication do form a really important part of communication between many kids.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the ban would be a relief to parents.
“It’s something that most, most parents around the country would give a head nod to, because these big tech companies only see our kids as a profit-making venture,” he told Nine’s Today program.
– with AAP
