Australia to ban social media for children under 16

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Thursday that the government intends to legislate a social media ban for children under 16, a measure it claims to be a global first, Reuters reported.

"Social media is harming our kids and I'm calling time on it," Albanese stated at a news conference.

The legislation will be introduced in parliament this year and, once passed, will take effect 12 months later. No exemptions will be made for users with parental consent.

"The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access," Albanese said. "The onus won't be on parents or young people."

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said platforms impacted would include Meta Platforms Instagram and Facebook, as well as Bytedance's TikTok and Elon Musk's X. Alphabet's YouTube would likely also fall within the scope of the legislation, she added.

All four companies impacted were not immediately reachable for comment.

Several countries have already vowed to curb social media use by children through legislation, though Australia's policy is one of the most stringent.

France last year proposed a ban on social media for those under 15, though users were able to avoid the ban with parental consent.

The United States has for decades required technology companies to seek parental consent to access the data of children under 13, leading to most social media platforms banning those under that age from accessing their services.