Australia Moves to Ban Social Media for Under-16s

The House of Representatives of the Australian Parliament has approved the first reading of a bill that aims to ban people under the age of 16 from accessing all major social media sites. The bill was drafted by the government led by Labour Party Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) and presented to MPs in September. The bill, widely supported by the Australian population, passed the 151-seat House of Representatives with 102 votes in favor, 36 abstentions, and 13 against. The Senate’s second and decisive vote is expected on Thursday, November 28. If the Senate (Upper House) also approves the new law – which is almost certain – Australia will become the first country in the world to pass a law banning minors from accessing social media.

In a speech to Parliament prior to the vote in the House, the Albanian Prime Minister emphasized that “the proposed law is intended to protect the mental health of young people who are threatened by the use of social media.” Nevertheless, many experts expressed serious doubts about the practical application of the new law. According to experts at the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, one of the “major problems is age verification.” Among the methods proposed by the bill are biometric or state verification systems. According to the Australian Press, “in both cases, parents could log in under their own name and then give any device to their children under 16, as has happened in other cases where this type of ban has been attempted.” Therefore, in order to increase control on the other side as well, the bill foresees fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (about 30 million euros) for social networks that “do not take sufficient measures to prevent minors from accessing them.”