Australia: Social Media Ban Act to Children Under 16 · Global Voices

Her government put a bill to pass today Thursday (21.11.2024), which plans to ban the use for children under 16 years of age, with fines for companies that may reach $33 million for violations. In particular, Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland introduced a law that would prohibit children under the age of 16 from using social media – for the first time in the world – saying that online security is one of parents’ most difficult challenges. Michelle Rowland said that TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X (former Twitter) and Instagram were among platforms that would face fines of up to $33 million for systemic failures in preventing young children from having bills. “This bill seeks to put a new regulatory value on society, that access to social media is not the decisive feature of adulthood in Australia,” Rowland told parliament. “There is broad recognition that something needs to be done immediately to prevent the exposure of young teenagers and children to unfiltered and vast content flows,” he added. The bill has broad political support. After becoming law, platforms will have a year to process how to apply age limitation. “They sent me videos with a machete” “I honestly felt very scared,” says James, describing an incident in Snapchat that left him wondering if it was safe to go to school. The 12-year-old Australian had an argument with a friend and one night the child added him to a group conversation with two older teenagers. He immediately began receiving violent messages on his phone. “One of them seems to have been about 17,” James tells the BBC. “He sent me videos with a machete… he was shaking her around. Then there were voice messages saying they would catch me and stab me.” James – not his real name – began using Snapchat when he was 10 years old, after a classmate suggested to everyone in their group to download the app. But after informing his parents of his experience with online bullying, which was finally resolved by his school, James deleted his account. His experience is a warning story showing why the proposed ban on social media for children under 16 in Australia is necessary, says his mother, Emma, who also uses a pseudonym. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the proposed laws, which will be deposited in parliament next week, are aimed at mitigating the “damage” caused by social media to Australian children. “This is for moms and dads… They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our children online. I want Australian families to know that the government is covering for you,” he said. But while many parents applauded the move, some experts question whether children should – or even can – be excluded from access to social media and what the negative effects of this will be. Can it be applied? The new legislation provides a framework for the ban. But the 17-page document, which is expected to be submitted to the Senate next week, does not analyse significant details. Under the bill, the ban will apply to all children under the age of 16 and there will be no exceptions for existing users or those with parental consent. Technology companies will face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (32.5 million US dollars), if they do not comply, but there will be exceptions for platforms that can create “low risk services” considered suitable for children. The criteria for this limit have not yet been established. No age restrictions will be placed on message exchange services, online games or platforms that effectively support the health and education of users. Also, access to certain websites that can be accessed without an account, such as YouTube, will not be restricted. Experts on child welfare and the Internet have expressed concerns about the ban, including the isolation of children aged 14 and 15 from the already established social media. With information from BBC and Reuters