The Australian government plans to introduce legislation to ban social media for children under 16, BBC News reports.
According to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the new laws will be aimed at mitigating the harm caused by social media platforms, and no exemptions will be made for children with parental consent.
“This one is for the mums and dads… They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online. I want Australian families to know that the government has your back,” said Albanese.
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The opposition party supports the ban. If approved, the legislation will take effect 12 months later, according to Reuters.
The government previously said the cut-off wouldn’t be announced until they had an age-verification technology in place, but it now says the onus will be on social media platforms to show they are taking steps to prevent access.
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In a statement to the AP, Meta said it would respect any age limitations the government wants to introduce, but “deeper discussions on how we implement protections” are required. Otherwise, “teens and parents will not find themselves in a better place.”
Some experts have also questioned how the ban could be enforced when there are tools that can help kids circumvent age verification.
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