Shoppers use their phones as they walk past the entrance to a Myer department store, owned by Australia’s biggest department store chain Myer Holdings Ltd, in Sydney, Australia, November 1, 2017.
Steven Saphore | Reuters
Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday the government would legislate for a ban on social media for children under 16, a policy the government says is world-leading.
Australia is trialing an age-verification system to assist in blocking children from accessing social media platforms, as part of a ban that could come into force as soon as the end of next year.
“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Albanese told a news conference.
Albanese cited the risks to physical and mental health of children from excessive social media use, in particular the risks to girls from harmful depictions of body image, and misogynist content aimed at boys.
“If you’re a 14-year-old kid getting this stuff, at a time where you’re going through life’s changes and maturing, it can be a really difficult time and what we’re doing is listening and then acting,” he said.
Legislation will be introduced into parliament this year, with the laws coming into effect 12 months after being ratified by lawmakers, he added.
The opposition Liberal Party has expressed support for a ban.
There will be no exemptions for children who have parental consent, or who already have accounts.
“The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access,” Albanese said. “The onus won’t be on parents or young people.”
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said platforms impacted would include Meta Platforms’ Instagram and Facebook, as well as Bytedance’s TikTok and Elon Musk’s X. Alphabet’s YouTube would likely also fall within the scope of the legislation, she added.
TikTok declined to comment, while Meta, Alphabet and X did not respond to requests for comment.
A number of countries have already vowed to curb social media use by children through legislation, though Australia’s policy is one of the most stringent.
France last year proposed a ban on social media for those under 15, though users were able to avoid the ban with parental consent.
The United States has for decades required technology companies to seek parental consent to access the data of children under 13, leading to most social media platforms banning those under that age from accessing their services.
