A social media ban for under-16s passes the Australian Senate and will soon be a world-first law
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A social media ban for children under 16 passed the Australian Senate Thursday and will soon become a world-first law.
The law will make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts.
The Senate passed the bill 34 votes to 19. The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the legislation by 102 votes to 13.
The House has yet to endorse opposition amendments made in the Senate. But that is a formality since the government has already agreed they will pass.
The platforms will have one year to work out how they could implement the ban before penalties are enforced.
Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said the legislation had been “rushed.”
Digital Industry Group Inc., an advocate for the platforms in Australia, said questions remain about the law’s impact on children, its technical foundations and scope.
“The social media ban legislation has been released and passed within a week and, as a result, no one can confidently explain how it will work in practice – the community and platforms are in the dark about what exactly is required of them,” DIGI managing director Sunita Bose said in a statement.
The amendments bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver’s licenses, nor could they demand digital identification through a government system.
The House is scheduled to pass the amendments on Friday. Critics of the legislation fear that banning young children from social media will impact the privacy of users who must establish they are older than 16.
While the major parties support the ban, many child welfare and mental health advocates are concerned about unintended consequences.
Sen. David Shoebridge, from the minority Greens party, said mental health experts agreed that the ban could dangerously isolate many children who used social media to find support.
“This policy will hurt vulnerable young people the most, especially in regional communities and especially the LGBTQI community, by cutting them off,” Shoebridge told the Senate.
Opposition Sen. Maria Kovacic said the bill was not radical but necessary. “The core focus of this legislation is simple: It demands that social media companies take reasonable steps to identify and remove underage users from their platforms,” Kovacic told the Senate.
“This is a responsibility these companies should have been fulfilling long ago, but for too long they have shirked these responsibilities in favor of profit,” she added.
Online safety campaigner Sonya Ryan, whose 15-year-old daughter Carly was murdered by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager online, described the Senate vote as a “monumental moment in protecting our children from horrendous harms online.”
“It’s too late for my daughter, Carly, and the many other children who have suffered terribly and those who have lost their lives in Australia, but let us stand together on their behalf and embrace this together,” she told the AP in an email.
Wayne Holdsworth, whose teenage son Mac took his own life after falling victim to an online sextortion scam, had advocated for the age restriction and took pride in its passage.
“I have always been a proud Australian, but for me subsequent to today’s Senate decision, I am bursting with pride,” Holdsworth told the AP in an email.
Christopher Stone, executive director of Suicide Prevention Australia, the governing body for the suicide prevention sector, said the legislation failed to consider positive aspects of social media in supporting young people’s mental health and sense of connection.
“The government is running blindfolded into a brick wall by rushing this legislation. Young Australians deserve evidence-based policies, not decisions made in haste,” Stone said in a statement.
The platforms had complained that the law would be unworkable and had urged the Senate to delay the vote until at least June 2025 when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies will report on how young children could be excluded.
“Naturally, we respect the laws decided by the Australian Parliament,” Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms said in a statement. “However, we are concerned about the process which rushed the legislation through while failing to properly consider the evidence, what industry already does to ensure age-appropriate experiences, and the voices of young people.”
Critics argue the government is attempting to convince parents it is protecting their children ahead of a general election due by May. The government hopes that voters will reward it for responding to parents’ concerns about their children’s addiction to social media. Some argue the legislation could cause more harm than it prevents.
Criticisms include that the legislation was rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, is ineffective, poses privacy risks for all users, and undermines the authority of parents to make decisions for their children.
Opponents also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of the positive aspects of social media, drive them to the dark web, discourage children too young for social media to report harm, and reduce incentives for platforms to improve online safety.
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Absolutely friggin' perfect.
Now it needs to take place in the U. S.
Totally agree, it's way past time for responsible adults to take some control of what their kids are doing and who they are communicating with. The majority of young people don't have the life experiences or judgement to do what's in their best interests and safety. Their addiction to their phones is bad enough to begin with.
I heartily agree.
I agree as well, along with mandatory voting, universal health care and strong gun restrictions, wherein Australia leads. We have an Australian member who would probably add vegemite to that list.
Absolutely..if there was more Vegemite in the world...the world's problems would be solved... permanently...
Only Aussies would survive..and you can't get better than that..
Maybe that's why Gregory Peck took the sub there in On the Beach.
Fantastic film !!
Any restrictions will not worry me ! Never signed up with facebook, tiktok or any of the others. Newsvine, and now newstalkers, is the closest i have come to eternal damnation!
And I know what website addiction is now.
Well, I gotta disagree. Parents have the power to control this already without input from the state. Sooner or later Big Brother will come a knocking on a liberty you hold dear.
Bank on it.
Of course. Rebellion, i.e. doing the opposite of what is best is a young person's duty, like hiding behind the garage to smoke a cigarette. I have no idea how this could possibly be controlled, especially in a nation where parents allow their kids to have guns.
The concept that the State, can parent children better than most parents, is one of the craziest ideas I’ve ever heard.
And it sounds like a little gun ownership education is required here. In the United States one needs to be 18 to legally purchase a long gun and 21 to legally purchase a handgun.
One can be younger to legally handle a gun (hunting, target, etc) but only under adult supervision. With the millions and millions of legally owned gun in the USA this works well. Surprisingly well statistically speaking.
No nanny state required like our friend to the north.
Yes, Sparty, Canada has become a "nanny state" under the governance of a pussy that Trump is free to grope whenever he wants. Justin's father would have spit in Trump's eye. In fact, I just read that Justin is on his way to Mar a Lago to pay homage to his master. I bet Trump wouldn't DARE to grope Sheinbaum's pussy.
It always amazes me how completely Trump seems to own real-estate in some folks heads.
Good for Justin. Brooding, pouting and spewing hate accomplishes nothing. Diplomacy is generally a better start. Respect to Justin for being man enough to seek out such discussion.
You might be surprised, Sparty On, that I'm beginning to think you're right. I will be posting an article that has changed my mind.
I am helping my single adult daughter who lives with me raise my 13 year old granddaughter. As I pay the phone bill I have restricted her from using TikTok and other questionable sites that I do not consider acceptable for teenagers due to their content. My daughter and I sat my granddaughter down and explained our reasoning and she understood and accepted the rules we set down. When she is 18 and on her own she is free to make her own choices, right or wrong, and accept and deal with the consequences. I have a very smart young lady for a granddaughter and I am very proud of her.
Morning...and it sounds like you both are doing a fantastic job..good on you..
When mobiles first came in problems in schools started so they banned them and the kids know the rules...so if they take a mobile to school they do so at your own risk...and have no one else to blame other than themselves if it is confiscated...
And shock horror it works...😁
You're very lucky in that regard. I am very far removed from my 3 grandchildren but I know that my son and daughter-in-law are smart and careful enough to make sure they are great kids and will be mature and intelligent adults.
Ah yes, parenting. What a concept.
How will you survive without the state involved?
I have survived quite well. The blessing of living in a small semi isolated rural community.
Yes, I am lucky. She blew me away about a month or so ago when she informed me she was looking into universities which she could attend to pursue a PhD. She is thinking about the UK or New Zealand. She routinely carries a 3.8 GPA and will be14 this month. Scares me sometimes.
Morning...out of the two, NZ wins hands down..
Not Canada? It would keep them closer. Canada has 3 top universities - University of Toronto, McGill University and University of British Columbia, besides many other good ones, some of which are dedicated to specific careers.
My ex-wife and I both knew how important higher education to prepare for an employable career would be and our kids fulfilled that preparation and are enjoying the intended result, so I know my son will make sure my grandchildren will be so prepared as well.
Agreed, but she has plenty of time to decide. Good thing is there is reciprocity at most facilities in the commonwealth counties with the US.
Having spent a lot of time in Christchurch with the US Antarctic Program during my Naval career, I am somewhat partial to the University of Canterbury.
There are plenty of great choices in the US. And lots of financial help for the qualified.
There are also benefits from studying in a foreign country. My two kids got their Bachelors degrees in Canada, but their Masters degrees in the USA.
Trying to prohibit stiff is a sure fire way to get people to want it
Look how it worked for the Tipper Gore and her PMRC stance on the music industry.
And now they need to figure out how to enforce it. Some might say this will look like when Canada tried to build a gun registration system and finally gave up when it turned out to be a very expensive boondoggle that didn't do what the proponents said it would do.
Australia tried it -and in the main it works !
Well, yes and no. After the Port Arthur massacre, Australia passed a law banning automatic and semi-automatic long guns and mandated licensing for all other gun ownership.
But even by banning entire types of guns, they only got back around 20% of the guns in private hands.
Over time, the murder/homicide rate has decreased from 1.94 to .74 which is good.
But Australians now have approximately 4 million guns in private ownership hands.
BUT.. you have completely missed the point of my post. This seed is about the newly passed Australian law banning those under 16 years of age from being on social media. My point in my seed that you completely missed was now they need to figure out how to enforce it and I used the Canada gun registration attempt to show the potential failure due to unexpected costs. Both the Candian attempt and this new law in Australia are laudable and look good on paper. But how expensive will this new law turn out to be? Will the authorities eventually just toss it aside should the cost become too great?
My issue with laws like this is that they are largely unenforceable. I predict this will have a minimal impact on keeping children safe from social media but it does give the adults another law to charge a person with when an underage child is negatively impacted by social media.
There has not been increase in number of people owning guns in Australia but current owners buying more guns.
sorry but I don't get your point. And you are not responding to this seed but a deflection caused by 4.1 which also completely missed the point of my initial post.
OK, now let's get back to the reason for the thread - and it ain't weapons.
The majority of today's "children" are having an exceptionally hard time trying to "learn" how to live outside of the home. They WANT THEIR OWN - even though they don't work for it, pay for it, take care of it or accept the responsibility of having "IT".
My wife is a high school teacher and has 242 students PER DAY in her seven classes. The school district has a strict policy that you don't "punish" a child for wrong-doing because it will send the wrong message. So, it's OK for the children to call the female teachers whores, bitches, c**ts, throw things at other class members and BE ON THE CELL PHONE ANYTIME THEY WISH while at school.
The male teachers have to go through the same nonsense, but with getting their tires slashed, cars slapped with paint or scratched with keys/screwdrivers, the district won't allow "retaliation" - again, sending the wrong message.
Parent/Teacher conferences??? Forget it - parents don't show 'cause kids don't let them know or the parents are too busy on the tube or playing games on their 'puters and - well, hey - that's the teacher's responsibility - you know - to raise my kids 'cause I'm so busy.
Cellphones in classrooms have almost become standard. Don't you dare "try" to keep them out of the classroom because you'll be violating some rule/regulation/policy that is protecting the child's well being and safety and emotional/psychological growth.
I was raised and grew up in the 40's/60's/70's. There were times when my/our teachers would place a student in front of the class, make them bend over and grab their ankles, and them whop them three to five times with a 1/2 thick oak "cricket bat" for misbehaving - erasers frying from the teachers hands usually found their mark on an offending student - in a full student assembly, being called up in front by the principal and admonished for misbehaving. Mom and Dad would further the "lessons" when I arrived at home after the teacher/principal would call them - during the day - to tell them little Warrior was a bad boy because he knocked someone's book off their desk - accidently.
So, did it harm me???? Don't think so - in fact I think I'm more prepared to face what has/will be thrown at me.
Yeah - cell phones/social bans should VOLUNTARILY come from the parents - not the government. However, today's parents can't even handle their own levels of growth - thanks to "feelings" and not having the knowledge/experience needed for parenting.
Morning 1st...they banned mobile phones in all public schools years ago here...
Hasn't been a problem and if they do appear the phones are confiscated and parents informed...
Feel sorry for your wife teaching those ferals....just shows a total lack of respect by the students and their parents for the teachers and the school..
Sounds like they should send the little dears over here for a few months for re education..😁
The ban will be unenforceable.
Morning...we will just have to wait and see...but even so there will be ways around it..kids are very tech savvy...
But I think you will find many parents will be in favour of it, but only time will tell...
The Aussies are a very determined people. Don't sell them short on anything once they make up their minds to do something.
I have a dozen or so great grand kids in Australia and I’ll be interested in them and their parents re action. They were shocked that kids here could have cell phones in class.
Arvo..yep simply not done here..and if you do expect consequences..