Australia to ban social media access for kids under 16 to protect their well-being

Australia is planning to pass a new law that will stop kids under 16 from using social media. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the plan on Thursday, saying the goal is to protect children from harm that social media can cause. 

Australia’s government calls this move a “world-leading” step to keep children safer online, and the law might become official late next year.

Age Verification to Keep Kids Safe

To make this ban work, Australia is testing a system to verify the ages of social media users. The age-checking methods may include high-tech ways like biometrics (such as facial recognition) or using government IDs. This is one of the strictest plans in the world to limit social media access for children, as most countries do not use age verification in this way.

Albanese explained that social media can harm young people’s mental and physical health. He is especially concerned about how social media affects girls’ body image and boys’ views on women. The Prime Minister said, “Social media is doing harm to our kids, and I’m calling time on it.”

He added that it is especially tough for young teens to handle this harmful content during an already challenging phase in life. “If you’re a 14-year-old kid seeing this stuff, it can be a really difficult time,” he said. “We’re listening to these concerns and taking action.”

Toughest Rules Yet

Australia’s plan includes some of the strictest social media rules. It would ban any child under 16 from using social media, even if parents give permission. There will be no exceptions for children who already have social media accounts, either. The law, if approved by parliament this year, will come into effect 12 months after it’s officially passed.

The country’s opposition party, the Liberal Party, also supports the new law. Albanese emphasized that social media platforms will be the ones responsible for making sure kids cannot access their sites. 

“The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access,” he said, “not on parents or young people.”

Platforms Impacted

Michelle Rowland, the Communications Minister, says the law would apply to popular platforms like Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, Elon Musk’s X, and YouTube. All these platforms may need to make changes to comply with the new law.

Some platforms have not responded to the announcement yet, though TikTok declined to comment.

Concerns from the Digital Industry

Not everyone agrees with the government’s approach. The Digital Industry Group Inc. (DIGI), an organization representing Meta, TikTok, X, and Google, argues that banning social media may push young people to other parts of the internet that aren’t safe or controlled. DIGI’s managing director, Sunita Bose, said, “Keeping young people safe online is a top priority, but banning teenagers from using social media is a 20th-century solution to a 21st-century problem.”

Bose suggested that a better solution would be to create safer, age-appropriate online spaces, educate kids about digital safety, and build a balanced approach. She warned that cutting off access to social media could limit young people’s ability to find support networks.

Australia Leading the Charge in Online Safety

Other countries have been trying to reduce social media use among kids, but none have proposed such strict laws. France suggested a ban on social media for anyone under 15 last year, but children could still use it with parental consent. In the U.S., there is a law requiring tech companies to get parental permission before collecting data from children under 13. This leads most social media platforms to prevent kids under 13 from joining. But Australia’s proposal would set a new bar with age-verification tools and a higher minimum age limit.