Australia recently passed a law banning children under 16 from accessing social media. The legislation, welcomed by 77% of the Australian population according to a survey, will come into force in 12 months. The main goal of this law is to protect the mental health of minors in the digital environment, despite opposition from technology companies who deem it unenforceable. The responsibility for enforcing the law falls entirely on the social platform providers. They will have to take “reasonable measures” to prevent access to children under 16, under penalty of heavy fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (around 30 million euros). The law does not provide sanctions for minors who violate the ban, nor for their parents.
While the law does not name specific platforms, the ban is expected to apply to giants such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. This excludes educational websites, including YouTube, and messaging apps such as WhatsApp. It is not yet clear how tech companies will enforce the new age restrictions. The law does not require the uploading of government identification documents as part of the verification process, leaving room for different interpretations and possible technical solutions.
Meta criticized the bill, calling it “incoherent and ineffective” and urging the Australian government to delay its passage. Elon Musk, owner of X, called the law a “surreptitious way to control internet access for all Australians.” Despite criticism, Australia is leading the way in a global debate on regulating children’s access to social media. Similar proposals are under consideration in Norway and Florida, where the latter is currently being challenged for possible free speech violations.
