Australia’s social media ban for children under the age of 16 will become law after passing the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, even as questions linger over how the new restrictions will be implemented.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor government joined with the centre-right Liberal-National Opposition on Thursday to pass the legislation, brushing aside concerns from lawmakers on both sides of parliament over the speed at which the bills had been enacted. The restrictions are expected to be among the strictest in the world.
Under the new laws, which are scheduled to come into effect in about one year, children in Australia under the age of 16 will be banned from setting up accounts on popular social media sites including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.
Multiple opinion polls have shown the vast majority of Australian voters are supportive of the new laws in principle, with a YouGov survey released on Tuesday finding 77% were in favour of the ban.
Tech companies themselves will be responsible for enforcing the ban, with the threat of fines of up to A$50 million ($43.6 million) if they fail to take action. The legislation does not specify how the sites will verify the age of users.
Global tech giants have already voiced their strong opposition to the legislation during a short inquiry by the Australian Senate, saying they considered the new laws to be rushed and unworkable. In a statement to the committee, Meta said the social media ban “overlooks the practical reality of age assurance technology.”
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In a statement sent Thursday, after the measure passed, a Meta spokesperson said the company is “concerned about the process which rushed the legislation through while failing to properly consider the evidence, what industry already does to ensure age-appropriate experiences, and the voices of young people.”
However, the strongest rebuttal came from X and its owner Elon Musk, who said in a post on his social media site last week that the laws seemed like “a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians.”
Representatives for X, TikTok and Google’s YouTube did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. A Snap Inc. spokesperson declined to comment.
