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Australia social media ban for under-16s comes into effect; PM Anthony Albanese calls it ‘proud day’
PM Anthony Albanese called Australia's social media ban a “proud day," stating that the law will be proof that policymakers can curb online harms.
Australia has at last implemented its social media ban for children under 16 on Wednesday, December 10. Platforms including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook were ordered to block their content for teens. As the order comes into effect, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also shared a video message calling it "a day when families are taking back power."
In the video message, PM Albanese said that the ban is an opportunity for the families to take back power from big tech companies and assert rights for kids to be kids and for parents to have greater peace of mind.
Among the big platforms, 10 were ordered to black their content for children from midnight on Tuesday or face a fine of upto $33 million, Reuters reported.
The move was opposed by major tech companies were the parents welcomed it.
Calling it a “proud day”, PM Albanese said that it shows that the law will be proof that policymakers can curb online harms. “This will make an enormous difference. It is one of the biggest social and cultural changes that our nation has faced,” Albanese was quoted as saying.
Also read: Meta says starting to remove under-16s from social media in Australia
The Albanese government introduced the ban, citing research that shows its harm to the mental health of teens. This includes cases of misinformation, bullying and harmful depiction of body image.
Meanwhile, children began posting goodbye messages to their followers in the last hours before the ban.
As per the report, Elon Musk's X became the last of the platforms to enforce the ban after publicly acknowledging on Wednesday that it would comply.
However, it also said that, “It's not our choice”, but the law requires. It blocked its content for anyone who does not meet the requirement criteria.
Companies say they have deployed a system of mixed checks for age inference. It estimates a user's age based on their behaviour, along with selfies and checking uploaded documents.
(With inputs from Reuters)
