Australia Plans Social Media Ban for Children under 16

The Australian government recently announced plans to ban the use of social media by children under the age of 16.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “Social media is doing harm to our kids.” He added that now is the time for the government to intervene.

The country's Parliament will introduce a new bill during the final two weeks of its meeting starting on November 18. The bill will set an age limit of 16 for children to use social media and make the services responsible for enforcement.

Albanese told reporters that the age limit would take effect 12 months after the bill is passed. And social media services, including X, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, would need to use the year to work out how to put age controls in place.

“I've spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online,” Albanese said.

The proposal comes at a time when governments around the world are considering ways to control how young people use smartphones and social media.

Under the Australian proposal, social media companies would face penalties for violating the age limit. However, under-age children and their parents would not face penalties.

Antigone Davis is the head of safety at Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram. Davis said the company would respect any age limits the government wants to put in place. She added that officials need to discuss the ways social media can make the age limit happen. She suggested that stronger tools in app stores and computer systems for parents could be a “simple and effective solution.”

X did not immediately answer a request from The Associated Press (AP) for comment. TikTok said it would not offer a comment to the AP.

Some groups oppose the age limit

More than 140 experts in fields related to technology and children signed an open letter to Albanese last month opposing a social media age limit. The letter said a ban would not be an effective way to deal with the risks of social media use.

Sunita Bose is a director at the Digital Industry Group in Australia. Bose said in a statement, “Rather than blocking access through bans, we need to take a balanced approach to create age-appropriate spaces, build digital literacy and protect young people from online harm.”

Jackie Hallan is a director at the youth mental health service ReachOut. She also opposed the ban. She noted that 73 percent of young people across Australia seeking mental health support get it through social media. She added that young people are likely to find ways to use social media even with a ban in place.

Child psychologist Philip Tam said it would have been easier to enforce the ban for children under the age of 12 or 13. Tam said, “My real fear honestly is that the problem of social media will simply be driven underground.”

Prime Minister Albanese said there would be rules to permit social media use in some situations, such as a need to connect with educational services.

Earlier this year, the government began testing age-restriction technologies among a group of users. Officials will use the test results to guide what reasonable steps social media services can take.

Lawmaker Paul Fletcher said the services already have the technology to enforce such an age ban. He added that if the law for controlling social media use is well written, Australia can get the results it wants.

I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith.

Rod McGuirk wrote this story for The Associated Press. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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penalty –n. a punishment for a violation of a rule or law

access –n. the ability to get to persons, places, or things you want

appropriate –n. correct or suitable in relation to a person or situation.

literacy –n. the ability to read and write; having knowledge of a particular subject