Australia’s parliament considers legislation banning social media for under 16s

Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Legislation for the world’s first legal ban on children under 16 using social media has been introduced in Australia’s Parliament. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram are among the restricted platforms that could be fined up to $33 million for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts. After the bill becomes law, the platforms would have one year to implement the age restriction. The ban has wide political support, but experts have raised concerns, including isolating young people who already have accounts. Rowland said there’s no similar ban for messaging and gaming platforms because those don’t have the same algorithmic curation aiming to keep users online.