Australia Considers Banning Children Under 16 From Social Media

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia announced on Monday that his government will introduce legislation that would “enforce a minimum age for social media and other digital platforms.” He followed up on Tuesday by informing the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he is considering making the platforms unavailable to children under the age of 14-16.

“Parents tell me they’re worried about what age their kids should be on social media,” he wrote on X. “We’ll introduce legislation in this term of Parliament to enforce a minimum age for social media and other digital platforms. It’s about supporting parents and keeping kids safe.”

Parents tell me they’re worried about what age their kids should be on social media.

We’ll introduce legislation in this term of Parliament to enforce a minimum age for social media and other digital platforms.

It's about supporting parents and keeping kids safe.

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) September 9, 2024

“We’re looking at the range between 14 and 16,” he stated on Tuesday. “That’s one of the reasons we’re having a trial. And what we’re looking at is how you deliver it. This is a global issue that governments around the globe are trying to deal with. And so we can look at the experience, look at the response, as well, of social media companies. Social media has a social responsibility in order to have that social license that they require to operate in a decent society.”

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“They’re not above everyone else; they can’t just say, ‘We’re a big multi-national company, we can do whatever we like’ regardless of the harm that’s being caused,” he stated. “So we’ll look at this age-verification trial; we know that it’s not simple, and it’s not easy, otherwise governments would have responded before. But we’ll look at the experience; we’ll look at the report and work that Justice French has done, but we will also have that legislation before Parliament by the end of the year because we know that this is what parents are talking about after school, in the parents and citizens’ groups, at the sideline of sport on the weekend. They’re talking about the impact that this has. And we know, for example, that the banning – which many state governments have done – of phones from school has made a positive difference. And so we know that if we get our youngest Australians off these devices then it can make a positive difference for them.”

“Millions of underage children have been able to set up accounts for these services by providing a false date of birth,” The New York Times reported.

In March, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law legislation that banned children under the age of 14 from holding accounts on social media platforms such as services like TikTok and Instagram, enacting a strict social media bill that is likely to upend the lives of many young people. The legislation stated, “A social media platform shall prohibit a minor who is younger than 14 years of age from entering into a contract with a social media platform to become an account holder.”