Australia is introducing laws to ban children under the age of 16 from accessing social media.
The prime minister said on Thursday that the proposed laws, which will be tabled in parliament next week, are meant to reduce the harm that social media causes Australia’s children.
“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Anthony Albanese said at a press conference on Thursday, adding that he has spoken to “thousands” of parents and other adults on the subject.
“This one is for the mums and dads,” he added. “They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online. I want Australian families to know that the government has your back. I want parents to be able to say, ‘Sorry, mate, that’s against the law.’”
He said there will be no exemptions to the age limit even if children already have accounts or have permission from their parents to access social media.
Mr Albanese also said that it will be up to social media companies to enforce the age limit. The platforms will have to “demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access” for young people.
“The onus won’t be on parents or young people,” he said.
The law is expected to come into force 12 months after it is passed and will be subject to a review once in place. A national cabinet meeting of all premiers and chief ministers has been called on Friday to discuss the proposed legislation.
“This is world-leading legislation and we want to make sure we’ve got it right,” Mr Albanese said.
“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.”
Communications minister Michelle Rowland said penalties will be imposed on social media platforms if they are found to be flouting the laws.
“The eSafety commissioner will have responsibility for enforcement and there needs to be enhanced penalties to ensure compliance,” she said.
Ms Rowland said platforms that will be impacted by the legislation include Meta‘s Instagram and Facebook, Bytedance’s TikTok, and Elon Musk’s X. Alphabet’s YouTube will also likely fall within the scope of the legislation.
Social media platforms already have an age limit of 13 in place, but it is not easy to enforce.
