He also said, “If you're a 14-year-old kid getting this stuff, at a time where you're going through life's changes and maturing, it can be a really difficult time and what we're doing is listening and then acting”.
The negative impact of social media on children and young teens is a topic of discussion in many countries, with many allegations and lawsuits being raised over social media platforms. Yet, Australia’s discussed decision seems to be one of the toughest ones that has been raised yet.
Even though many countries have already discussed and voted to diminish the use of social media platforms for children through legislation, Australia’s policy is one of the toughest ones. Till now, no legislation has tried to use biometrics and government identification in order to stop social media platforms from being used by teens and children. Those methods are being tested in Australia already in order to protect children.
This legislation is proposed to be introduced in Australia’s parliament in the next 12 months after it is ratified by lawmakers. With this law, there will also be no exceptions for children who have parental consent.
Albanese said “The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access,” and that "The onus won't be on parents or young people.”.
Even more so, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said “What we are announcing here and what we will legislate will be truly world-leading,”. Rowland also said that the platforms that would be affected would include Meta, Bytedance’s Tiktok as well as X and Alphabet’s Youtube.
Sunita Bose, The Managing Director of The Digital Industry Group that represents Meta, TikTok, X, and Youtube said "Keeping young people safe online is a top priority ... but the proposed ban for teenagers to access digital platforms is a 20th Century response to 21st Century challenges,".
Also adding “Rather than blocking access through bans, we need to take a balanced approach to create age-appropriate spaces, build digital literacy and protect young people from online harm,".
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