Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a new legislation set to ban social media access for children under 16 years old. The move is aimed at protecting young people from potential harms of social media.
Australia is introducing a law to ban social media access for children under 16, expected to take effect by the end of next year. This initiative includes one of the strictest regulations globally and aims to protect children online. The government is currently testing an age-verification system to ensure that minors cannot access social media platforms, which is a core element of the proposed measures.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated,
Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it. If you’re a 14-year-old kid getting this stuff, at a time where you’re going through life’s changes and maturing, it can be a really difficult time and what we’re doing is listening and then acting.
This reflects his concern about the negative effects of social media on teenagers and his commitment to taking action.