‘This is crazy’: World reacts as Australia approves ban for under 16 on social media platforms
Children under the age of 16 will be banned from using social media in Australia from the end of next year after the Senate approved the world’s strictest rules.
The ban – which will likely block teenagers from platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook – could see tech companies fined $50m if they don’t comply, in a decision that’s made headlines at media outlets across the globe.
News sites including The New York Times, NBC, CBS and The Washington Post in America; The Independent in Britain; Zurich-based newspaper Blick; Amar Ujala, one of India’s largest newspapers; and Russia’s state-run news agency TASS have reported on Thursday’s three-hour Senate debate.
“The Land of Kangaroos has just accepted a bill to fine social networks that tolerate accounts opened by children to the tune of millions,” a Blick article read.
“Blick asked the Australian Minister of Communication how and why it was urgent to act. And Michelle Rowland answered us!”
The story included a survey that found almost three-quarters (78 per cent) of the Swiss population believe children under the age of 16 should not be allowed access to social media.
UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC last week he would consider lobbying for similar laws on home soil in the future.
“I’m in touch with the legislators in Australia,” Mr Kyle said.
“As you’d expected, I’m really interested in what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and the evidence they’re basing it on.”
While other countries, including the United States and France, have taken strides to impose social media limits for children, Australia’s laws, expected to come into effect by the end of 2025, are a world-first.
In its coverage, Russia’s TASS noted that the nation had already banned Instagram and Facebook, which were “recognised as extremist”.
Other outlets, however, emphasised concerns – both their own and those of experts and Australian politicians – over how the ban could work, the “harm” it could cause, and whether similar laws might be implemented in their own countries.
“Many critics said that the law could be difficult to implement,” Amar Ujala’s story read, citing Greens Senator David Shoebridge’s warning that “children from rural areas and the LGBTQ community” would not benefit from the laws.
“They hoped the government would conduct another study on it, which would tell how children can be kept out of social media in the right way.”
In Britain, The Independent claimed the legislation “sets Australia up as a test case for a growing number of governments which have legislated, or have said they plan to legislate, an age restriction on social media”.
News agency Reuters, meanwhile, interviewed young people over Europe about the ban.
“I would not like this to happen in Spain,” student Javier Martinez, 12, said.
“They should have done a demonstration because this is very crazy.”
Another, 20-year-old waiter Pietro Migliaccio from Rome, disagreed.
“It’s an initiative that makes a lot of sense in Australia and one that we should bring here to save the next generation,” he said.
Self-proclaimed free speech advocate and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk – who owns X, a site that will fall under the ban if it is passed – blasted the move last week as “a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians”.
While Google and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, urged the Federal Government earlier this week to delay the legislation’s passage and grant platforms more time to assess its potential impacts.
The owner of TikTok, Chinese company ByteDance, echoed the sentiment, calling for further consultation on the decision.
Despite criticism the legislation has been rushed, the Coalition has argued the move was necessary to protect children and young teens’ mental health and wellbeing.
Thursday’s inquiry into the new laws ran for just three hours, with Australians given only a day to lodge submissions.
The government has said it will rely on some form of age-verification technology to implement the restrictions but the details are vague and the technology has not been finalised.
The onus will be on social media companies to add age-verification tools themselves.
The ban involves the highest age limit set by any country, and does not include exemptions for those with parental consent.
There will be no penalties for parents or children who ignore the rules.
“This is a global problem and we want young Australians essentially to have a childhood,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last week.
“We want parents to have peace of mind.”
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the age limit would keep children and teens safe online.
“We know parents are concerned about the harms to children and we have taken a decision to support them,” she told Parliament.
“Keeping Australians safe online requires decisive action and the Albanese government is delivering exactly that.”
Polling has shown that parents widely support the ban.
“For too long parents have had this impossible choice between giving in and getting their child an addictive device or seeing their child isolated and feeling left out,” Amy Friedlander, a mother of three from the Wait Mate movement, recently told the BBC.
“We’ve been trapped in a norm that no one wants to be a part of.”
The bill passed the Senate by 34 votes to 19.
It will now return to the House of Representatives – where the government has a majority, meaning it is sure to pass – before becoming law.
The legislation comes after News Corp’s Let Them Be Kids campaign launched in May calling on politicians to back raising the minimum age of social media to 16 based on the advice of health, wellbeing, tech and psychology experts.
Mr Albanese told News Corp his government was proud to have delivered the “world-leading result”.
“Social media is doing social harm to our children, and I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs,” he said.
“Platforms now have a social responsibility to ensure the safety of our kids is a priority for them.”
