Australia will ban children under 16 years old from using social networks

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday that the Australian government will introduce a law banning the use of social networks for children under 16 years old. “Social media is harming our children and I call on it to stop,” Albanese said at a news conference.

He added that the bill will be introduced to parliament this year and will take effect 12 months after it is approved by lawmakers. CNN notes that there will be no exceptions for users with parental consent. “The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate that they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access by children,” Albanese said.

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Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the platforms affected by this innovation would be Instagram and Facebook (banned in the Russian Federation; owned by the Meta group, considered extremist in the Russian Federation ), as well as ByteDance and X's TikTok, former Twitter (service blocked in the Russian Federation), Elon Musk. She added that Alphabet's YouTube may also be subject to the law.

Several countries have committed to restricting children's use of social media through legislation, although Australia's policy is among the strictest. Last year, France proposed banning people under 15 from using social networks, although users could bypass the ban with parental consent. For decades in the United States, tech companies have required parental consent to access the data of children under 13, leading most social media companies to ban those under the age of 13. that use these services.