Australia passes landmark social media ban for children under 16

Australian lawmakers on Thursday approved a landmark ban on social media for children under 16, in some of the world’s toughest such controls.

Australian lawmakers on Thursday approved a landmark ban on social media for children under 16, in some of the world’s toughest such controls.

The ban, which aims to address the impact of excessive social media use on children’s physical and mental health, affects social media platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Reddit, but not YouTube.

The platforms, which bear sole responsibility for enforcement, have one year to figure out how to implement the age limit, which is the highest set by any country. If there are systemic failures to keep children from having accounts, the platforms are liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million).

Senators debated the legislation late into the night on the last day of their parliamentary session, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor government had targeted as the deadline for it to pass. The bill, which is also largely supported by the opposition Liberal party, passed the Australian House of Representatives on Wednesday by a vote of 102 to 13.

Supporters of the ban have cited the effect of harmful depictions of body image on girls and the effect of misogynistic content on boys. Its passage comes after a series of Australian teenagers died by suicide over what their families said was online bullying.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/australia-passes-landmark-social-media-ban-children-16-rcna181124

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