In late November, Australia’s Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill banning social media use by children under 16 by a considerable margin. The lower House of Parliament passed the tough bill with bipartisan support, as did the Senate. Many large social media companies asked the government to delay the bill. However, it has now become a law.
The bill was passed 102 votes to 13 by the House of Representatives in Australia. It was passed by 34 votes to 19 by the Senate. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who leads a center-left government and does not have a majority in the Senate, received support from a majority of the legislature.
As per the new law, social media companies will be forced to ensure that age-verification protections are implemented on their platforms in the next year. If there are systemic breaches, these social media companies can face fines of up to 49.4 million Australian dollars, equivalent to $32 million.
Most parents, media companies, and the general public supported the bill, but social media platforms and a human rights group were against the bill.
A YouGov survey released earlier in November showed that 77 percent of the general public supported the bill, while there was 61 percent support for the bill in August.
Many parents whose young children suffered self-harm, cyberbullying, and other adverse effects of social media spoke in favor of the ban. Media companies such as Australian Broadcasting Corporation and News Corp, owned by Rupert Murdoch, favored the ban.
Google and Meta submitted to Parliament that legislation should be delayed until age-verification trials are completed. These trials are expected to be completed mid-next year. ByteDance-owned TikTok said that the bill required more consultation. The company will face problems in the US as it loses its recent appeal.
Elon Musk, who owned X, said the new legislation might hurt children’s rights. The Australian Human Rights Commission said the ban violated children’s self-expression rights and social participation.
Detractors of the law also say that children could circumvent the ban using VPN, but these children will not be penalized, as per the law.
Although the law has issues that must be ironed out, CWEB reports that other countries, including the UK, Norway, and France, are exploring similar options. The general public is in favor of bans or strict parental control.
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