The Australian Senate has approved a bill prohibiting children under 16 from using social networks.
The Guardian writes about it.
34 senators supported the document, 19 were against it.
The adopted law prohibits companies that own social networks from providing access to them to users under the age of 16. Violations are subject to fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($32 million). However, there is no punishment for children who will be able to circumvent the ban.
How exactly the age of users will be determined has not yet been specified. This is planned to be clarified during the test period in mid-2025. The law will enter into force in a year.
Also, the law did not specify which social networks it is about. Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says TikTok, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Reddit and Snapchat are likely to be banned. At the same time, the ban will not affect YouTube due to its "important" educational role.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese explained that social networks can harm children — for example, affect their physical and mental health. Thus, through social networks, girls can have a distorted perception of their own body, and boys can excessively consume violent and violent content.
The adopted law is one of the strictest requirements for regulating the use of social networks in the world.
Critics of the law, including academics, politicians and human rights organizations, have argued that such a ban could backfire. Teens may use the darknet or feel more isolated. Also, the ban is most likely to be bypassed using a VPN.
The local branch of the human rights organization Amnesty International also spoke against the law. It said social media owners could now start requiring users in Australia to verify their age with biometrics or upload documents, which could infringe on the right to privacy.
- Australia is not the first country where they want to introduce a minimum age for using social networks. Yes, in Norway they want to raise the minimum age of social network users to 15.
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