Nov. 7 (UPI) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday his government will introduce legislation to ban children under 16 years of age from social media.
Specifics of how the ban would work were not made public during the press conference Thursday when Albanese called the ban “world leading.”
He said the ban will not include exceptions for children already on social media or those with parental consent, and that the onus will be on social media platforms to prevent access — not on parents.
“This one’s for the moms and dads,” he said. “Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it.”
There will no penalties imposed on users, and the enforcement of the ban and oversight will be conducted by the nation’s eSafety commissioner, who will issue regulatory guidance on what steps platforms can take.
“We think there will be some, of course, exclusions and exemptions as well for this to make sure that there aren’t unintended consequences. But we think this is absolutely the right thing,” he said.
The legislation will be introduced into Parliament and will become law 12 months after its passage.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said they settled on a minimum age of 16 following consultation with with experts, parents, organizations, advocacy groups and academics.
Platforms to fall under the definition of social media include TikTok, Facebook and X ,as well as possibly YouTube, she said.
A virtual Cabinet meeting has been scheduled for Friday morning to discuss the legislation.
” I’ve spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online,” Albanese said. “And I want Australian parents and families to know that the Government has your back. I want parents to be able to say, ‘Sorry, mate, it’s against the law for me to get you to do this.'”
The United States, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule requires website operators and online services to seek parental consent to collect personal information of those under the age of 13. In response, some companies, such as Facebook, have banned those under the age of 13 from using their services.
