Now children younger than 16 will not be able to access social media as per a law passed by Australia. The law is aimed at protecting young children but people are of the opinion that it would lead to more problems than solving it. The law will be enforced within a year and starting January, the country will be testing ways to implement the law.
As per the new law, TikTok and Meta have been asked to take steps to prevent anyone under the age of 16 from creating a social media account. In case the companies do not follow the law, they could face fines to the tune of US$ 32 million. YouTube won’t be affected by this law as it is used in schools in Australia.
The law was passed 34 votes to 19 and even though it is not being dubbed as the perfect law but it was required to protect young people from negative effects of social media. As per recent polls, 77% of the Australians are in favor of the law as people are convinced that it could hurt mental health of young children. A number of stories of young children who had been bullied online and have hurt themselves have surfaced off late.
Also, not everyone is in favor of the new law as they believe that it would make it tougher for young people to connect with others who could support them whereas some worry that social media ban would push youngsters towards less safe parts of the internet.
It would be difficult for social media companies to find out the age of users as companies cannot ask for ID of the user and with companies collecting more information it could raise privacy concerns of youngsters.
The law has been criticized by social media companies and they feel that government should have figured out how the law would work before passing the same but most of the companies have said that they would try to follow the rules.There is an update on the social media ban in Australia where even online forums like Reddit and Kick would be banned for children under the age of 16. The ban would start Dec 10 and would also restrict access to Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads, YouTube and TikTok.
Australian Communications Minister, Anika Wells stated that they are asking online platforms to use these platforms to keep children safe online. She stated that they have been meeting representatives from these social media platforms so that they can get an understanding that there would be no excuse for failure in implementing this law. She said all they wanted was a childhood for the kids and peace of mind for their parents.
These platforms already had been given twelve months for preparing for the ban since Australia passed its landmark online safety legislation. The initial discussion focused on Snapchat, Instagram, facebook, X, TikTok and Youtube but the list has been expanded of late and it could continue on changing.
Around more than 140 Australian academics had signed an open letter to the PM where they opposed the age limit as a blunt instrument. The steps being taken by Australia are being closely watched by countries who share concern about the impact of online platform on kids.
The delay in access to social media accounts to children gives them great time to grow and learn and frees them from the endless scrolls and unclear algorithms. On the other hand, critics have been questioning how the restriction would be enforced as the government cannot force people to submit government IDs for checking age.
