Australia leader defends social media ban as teenagers brag about staying online

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took aim at young people parading themselves on social media a day after a world-first ban on under-16s went live, saying the rollout was always going to be bumpy.

SYDNEY — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday took aim at young people parading themselves on social media a day after a world-first ban on under-16s went live, saying the rollout was always going to be bumpy but would ultimately save lives.

A day after the law took effect with bipartisan support from the major political parties and backing by some three-quarters of Australian parents, the country’s social media feeds were flooded with comments from people claiming to be under 16, including one on the prime minister’s TikTok account saying “I’m still here, wait until I can vote.”

Under the law, 10 of the biggest platforms including TikTok, Meta’s Instagram and Alphabet’s YouTube must bar underage users or face a fine of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($33 million). The government has said it will take some time for the platforms to set up processes to do this.

“This is the law, this isn’t something that can be flouted,” Albanese said on News Corp’s Sky News.

“Some young people who haven’t yet been pulled off social media are sending out notices bragging about it. That just tells the platforms who they are, and so it will be taken down.”