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The Australian Senate approved a groundbreaking law on Thursday that will ban access to social media by minors under 16 and will include fines of up to $32.5 million (30.7 million euros) for platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok that violate it.
The text was approved today by the Senate with 34 votes in favor and 19 against, with support from the opposition, one day after being approved in the House of Representatives by 101-13.
The measure will now return to the House of Representatives for final approval of a series of amendments before becoming law.
The law – which seeks to protect children and teenagers from bullying and potential mental health problems – introduces a new category called ‘age-restricted social media platforms’ to ban under-16s, including those who already have accounts, from accessing social media.
In this sense, Facebook, Instagram (both from Meta), Reddit, Snapchat, X and TikTok have the responsibility to enforce the law, otherwise they face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (about 32.1 million dollars or around 30.5 million euros, at the current exchange rate).
The law, which excludes low-risk platforms such as YouTube, does not impose penalties for users or parents who violate it, according to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the Labor Party’s sponsor, who explained a few weeks ago.
Necessary steps of the platforms
In today’s debate, Labour Senator Jenny McAllister explained that the government only wants digital platforms to take “the necessary steps” to ensure that under-16s do not open or maintain social media accounts, otherwise they will face fines that are “intentionally large”.
The Australian eSafety Commission will be in charge of these regulations, which require digital platforms and social networks to establish “reasonable measures” to restrict access by minors.
For his part, David Shoebridge, of the Green Party, stressed that the Australian government’s proposal is “deeply flawed” and “dangerous”, recalling that various sectors of mental health, some government agencies and human rights defenders have warned about the risks of its implementation.
Shoebridge stressed that the law will primarily impact vulnerable young people, such as the LGTBIQ+ community in rural areas, who find support on social media, as well as the privacy of all users, including adults, according to the live broadcast on the legislative portal.
For Amnesty International, this law “fails to address the fundamental problem of social media companies profiting from harmful content, addictive algorithms and surveillance (of users),” according to a statement published today.
Criticism of Meta, Google and X
The bill was introduced in Australia’s parliament on November 21 amid calls from digital giants Meta and Google for time to complete technological tests commissioned by the Australian government for age verification, which may include biometric data, among other issues.
X questioned the “legality” of the bill, saying it might not be compatible with international regulations and human rights treaties Australia has signed.
With this law, Australia joins countries such as Spain, which first set the minimum age to open a social media account at 14 and is in the process of raising it to 16, and other places around the world such as Puerto Rico and New York that have adopted similar measures.
Since February 2024, the European Commission has been investigating TikTok’s protection of minors, in line with complaints filed by seven French families against the platform, claiming that their children suffered harm due to its use.
The Commission is examining TikTok’s algorithms, potential addictive aspects and measures taken to mitigate potentially harmful content and could adopt a non-compliance decision that would result in a financial penalty of up to 6% of its global annual turnover.
