Australia passes social media ban for under 16s

Australian senators have passed a world-first law that bans under 16s from having social media accounts.

The legislation is set to come into force in November 2025.

It includes some of the toughest social media controls in the world and will force platforms to take reasonable steps to ensure age-verification protections are in place.

The law will make platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and X liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (£25m) if they don't systemically stop children younger than 16 from holding accounts.

The platforms will have one year to work out how to implement the ban before the fines come into force.

In September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government would trial age verification technology before banning children from opening social media accounts.

At the time, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram and has a self-imposed minimum age of 13, said it wanted to empower young people to benefit from its platforms and provide parents with tools to support them "instead of just cutting off access".

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Australia's House of Representatives has yet to endorse amendments made in the Senate, but that is a formality since the government has already agreed they will pass.

In the UK, politicians are reportedly considering a similar ban.

Peter Kyle, the science secretary, told Sky News last week he wanted the regulator Ofcom to be "more assertive" when it comes to "grotesque" behaviour on social media - including where teenagers have lost their lives.

"I don't want to go to things like blanket bans because I want people to benefit from all of the opportunities presented by modern technology.

"But where there are harms, I will keep everything on the table when it comes to keeping people safe," he said.

(c) Sky News 2024: Australia passes social media ban for under 16s