The Australian government introduced a bill in parliament that aims to ban social media for children under the age of 16.
The government also proposed fines of up to AUD 49.5 million ($32 million) for social media platforms for systemic breaches.
The proposals are the highest age limit set by any country, and would have no exemption for parental consent and no exemption for pre-existing accounts.
What did the Prime Minister have to say?
On Monday, the country Prime Minister (PM) Anthony Albanese said social media firms would be required to destroy personal data used to verify ages of users, as part of what the government says is a world-leading ban on under-16s using the services.
“There will be very strong and strict privacy requirements to protect people’s personal information, including an obligation to destroy information provided once age has been verified,” Albanese told parliament.
The Albanese-led Labor government has been arguing excessive use of social media poses risks to physical and mental health of children, in particular the risks to girls from harmful depictions of body image, and misogynist content aimed at boys.
The law would force social media platforms, and not parents or young people, to take reasonable steps to ensure the age-verification protections are in place.
The proposed law will contain robust privacy provisions, including requiring platforms to destroy any information collected to safeguard the personal data of users.
