Australia's Bold Move: Banning Social Media for Under-16s—What’s Next?

Australia is introducing a groundbreaking law that will ban children under the age of 16 from using social media platforms. This new rule, which starts on December 10, is the first of its kind in the world. Social media companies will be required to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from creating accounts and to deactivate or remove any existing accounts belonging to children in this age group. The government says the main goal is to protect children from the pressures and risks that come with social media, such as spending too much time on screens and being exposed to harmful content. Many parents support the ban, hoping it will help keep their children safe online.

Earlier this year, a government study found that 96 percent of children aged 10 to 15 in Australia use social media, and seven out of ten have seen harmful content or experienced negative behavior online. This includes things like bullying, videos showing fights, and posts that encourage unhealthy habits. Some children have even been contacted by adults or older kids in ways that could be dangerous. The platforms affected by the ban include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, and several others. The government is also considering whether to add online gaming platforms to the list, since some games allow social interaction.

Enforcing the ban will be the responsibility of social media companies, not children or their parents. Companies that fail to comply could face fines of up to $49. 5 million. To keep under-16s off their platforms, companies will need to use age assurance technologies, such as government IDs, facial or voice recognition, or age inference based on online behavior. The government encourages companies to use several different methods and says they cannot rely on users simply stating their age or parents confirming it. Some companies, like Meta and Snapchat, have already announced plans to close teen accounts and offer ways for users to prove their age if they are mistakenly removed.

There are concerns about whether these technologies will work well enough to catch all underage users, and some worry that the fines may not be large enough to force companies to take the ban seriously. Critics also argue that banning social media may not actually reduce online harm, since other platforms like dating sites and AI chatbots are not included. Some people believe that teaching children how to use social media safely would be more effective than banning them. There are also worries about the privacy of children's personal information, since companies will need to collect and store data to verify ages. The government says there will be strong protections for personal information, and that data must be destroyed after age verification.

Social media companies have pushed back against the ban, saying it will be difficult to enforce and could drive children to less safe parts of the internet. Some companies, like YouTube and Snap, have even argued that they are not social media platforms. Other countries are watching Australia closely, as no other nation has introduced such a strict ban. In some places, children can use social media with parental consent, and some countries are considering similar laws. Teens in Australia have already started finding ways to get around the ban, such as creating fake accounts or using VPNs to hide their location. The government admits the ban may not be perfect, but believes it is an important step toward protecting children online.