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SYDNEY. – Australia’s parliament has passed a law banning children aged under 16 from using social media, one of the strictest regulations targeting the platforms in the world.
The law, which was passed by the Senate yesterday, requires social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok to prevent those under 16 from having accounts.
Failure to do so could result in fines of up to AUS$50 million (US$32,5m).
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese championed the legislation and rallied parents to support the bill.
Before the vote in parliament, Albanese said social media was “a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators”.
He added that he wanted young Australians “off their phones and onto the footy and cricket field, the tennis and netball courts, in the swimming pool”.
While privacy advocates and some children’s rights groups opposed the bill, 77 percent of the public supported the ban on under-16s, according to the latest polling.
Australian anti-bullying advocate Ali Halkic, whose 17-year-old son Allem committed suicide in 2009 after social media bullying, praised the legislation, saying giving control back to parents was a “starting point”.
Some companies, including WhatsApp and YouTube, will also likely be granted exemptions. — Al Jazeera.
Online Reporter