Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced plans to legislate for a ban on social media for children under 16 years of age, an initiative his government says is world-leading.
Australia’s Minister of Communications Michelle Rowland said on Thursday that the social media platforms impacted would include Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, as well as Bytedance’s video-sharing TikTok and Elon Musk’s X, previously known as Twitter
Rowland said that Alphabet’s YouTube would also likely fall within the scope of the legislation.
“Social media is doing harm to our kids, and I’m calling time on it,” Prime Minister Albanese told a news conference.
Legislation will be introduced into parliament this year, with the laws coming into effect 12 months after the law is ratified by parliamentarians, he added
The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access,” he said.
“The onus won’t be on parents or young people,” he added.
A proposed social media ban for children in Australia was raised earlier this year and received broad bipartisan support in parliament. (AlJazeera)