Australia To Ban Children From Social Media

The Australian government has proposed a new bill that would ban children under the age of 14 from accessing social media, citing growing concerns over the impact of online platforms on mental and physical health.

According to Al-Jazeera, Anthony Albanese, prime minister of Australia, said his government would run an age verification trial before introducing the legislation.

“I want to see kids off their devices and onto the footy fields and 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.”

The law would place Australia on the list of countries to impose age restrictions on social media.

Australia’s internet regulator, eSafety Commissioner, said in June that “restriction-based approaches may limit young people’s access to critical support” and push them to “less regulated non-mainstream services”.

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The proposal follows South Australia’s plan to restrict social media access to people aged 14 and over.

Peter Malinauskas, South Australian premier, said the proposal was fuelled by concerns that social media was harming young people and affecting their mental health, leaving parents “almost powerless”.

“The government is now going to step in, we’re going to ban kids from getting access to these accounts,” he said.

“We’re going to ban the social media services from providing access in that first place and where they do it and do it knowingly, they are subject to severe punishment, heavy financial penalties that will act as a major deterrent to ensure this doesn’t occur in the future.”

Malinauskas said the proposed regulation put “a positive obligation and duty” on social media companies to ensure children under 14 cannot access such platforms.

“That positive duty and obligation doesn’t just extend to prevent individual children from getting access to the platform but creates a systemic responsibility on the social media platforms to ensure they are undertaking all reasonable steps to prevent children from getting access,” he said.

If passed, the legislation will require social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent access by any South Australian child under the age of 14.

They would also have to ensure teens aged 14–15 could only access platforms with parental content.

Bans and limited access would be overseen by a state regulator who would monitor compliance and impose sanctions, such as: warnings, infringement notices and fines; and court proceedings that impose corrective orders or civil penalties.

Legal action could also be taken against providers by either a regulator or parents on behalf of a child who has suffered significant mental or physical harm.

The proposed ban would also provide “exemptions” for beneficial or low-risk social media services such as educational platforms.