Australia announced a nationwide ban on children under 16 from using major social media platforms starting December 10. The government added Reddit and livestreaming platform Kick to the existing list of restricted sites, which already includes Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Threads, X, and YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Communications Minister Anika Wells said the law imposes a world-first requirement for platforms to delete accounts belonging to underage users. Any platform that fails to take reasonable measures could face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (\u20ac28.3 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have met with several social media platforms so they know there\u2019s no excuse for ignoring this law,\u201d Wells told reporters in Canberra. \u201cOnline platforms already use advanced technology to track children. We expect them to use the same tools to protect children online.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia\u2019s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, will enforce the new restrictions. She said the list of banned platforms will evolve as new technologies emerge. The government classified the nine restricted sites as platforms whose \u201cmain or significant purpose is enabling online social interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inman Grant said her office will collaborate with researchers to assess the law\u2019s effects. \u201cWe\u2019ll study whether children sleep better, interact more, or become more active,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe\u2019ll also monitor for unintended consequences and gather data so others can learn from our approach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative has drawn international attention. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Australia\u2019s \u201ccommon sense\u201d policy at a United Nations forum in New York. Denmark\u2019s ambassador to Australia, Ingrid Dahl-Madsen, said her government will study Australia\u2019s model as it drafts similar protections for children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Critics argue the new law could compromise user privacy by requiring everyone to prove their age online. Wells countered that the government will ensure user data remains protected. \u201cWe want to keep people\u2019s information private while keeping children safe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 140 Australian and international academics signed an open letter opposing the restriction. They warned that setting an age limit was \u201ctoo blunt an instrument\u201d to address complex online risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the criticism, the Australian government insists the ban represents a major step toward curbing the harms of social media on children. Officials said they expect other countries to adopt similar legislation once its impact becomes clear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Australia announced a nationwide ban on children under 16 from using major social media platforms starting December 10. The government added Reddit and livestreaming platform Kick to the existing list of restricted sites, which already includes Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Threads, X, and YouTube. Communications Minister Anika Wells said the law imposes a world-first requirement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11194","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-media"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pappusaha.com\/euronews24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pappusaha.com\/euronews24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pappusaha.com\/euronews24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pappusaha.com\/euronews24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pappusaha.com\/euronews24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pappusaha.com\/euronews24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pappusaha.com\/euronews24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pappusaha.com\/euronews24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pappusaha.com\/euronews24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pappusaha.com\/euronews24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}