Australia passes world-first social media ban for children under 16

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Australia on November 28 passed a law to ban social media for children under 16.  The development comes after days of heated debate, setting a standard for other countries to follow in a global push to curb the power of Big Tech.

The law sets some of the toughest social media controls in the world and will force platforms to take reasonable steps to ensure age-verification protections are in place. It is expected to take effect in November 2025.

Australia's Senate, or upper house of parliament, voted to pass the law after the centre-left Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese won support from the conservative opposition. The Australian PM had earlier argued that social media poses risks to the physical as well as mental health of children.

The Senate's approval for the law is the final legislative hurdle after the lower house, or House of Representatives, passed the bill on Wednesday. Under the law, companies including Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, Snapchat and Reddit could be fined up to A$49.5 million ($32 million) for breaches.

In order to enforce the ban, Australia plans to trial an age-verification system that may include biometrics or government identification.

Senator David Shoebridge, member of the Australian Greens party, said mental health experts agreed that the ban could dangerously isolate children who use social media to find support. "This policy will hurt vulnerable young people the most, especially in regional communities and especially the LGBTQI community, by cutting them off," Shoebridge told the Senate.

Online safety campaigner Sonya Ryan, whose 15-year-old daughter Carly was murdered by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager online, described the Senate vote as a "monumental moment in protecting our children from horrendous harms online".

"It's too late for my daughter, Carly, and the many other children who have suffered terribly and those who have lost their lives in Australia. Let us stand together on their behalf and embrace this together,” she told Associated Press (AP).

In submissions to parliament, Alphabet's Google and Meta said the ban should be delayed until the age-verification trial finishes, expected in mid-2025. While TikTok said the bill needed more consultation, X (owned by billionaire Elon Musk) argued the proposed law might hurt children's human rights.

-With agency inputs