Australia takes step to ban under 16s from social media

SYDNEY: Australian lawmakers moved a step closer to banning under 16s from social media platforms on Wednesday, threatening companies that fail to comply with multimillion-dollar fines.

The landmark legislation passed parliament´s lower chamber on Wednesday and is now set to be debated by the Senate.

The new rules would mean the likes of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat have to take “reasonable steps” to prevent young teens from having accounts.

Social media firms -- who could face fines of up to Aus$50 million (US$32.5 million) for failing to impose the ban -- have described the laws as “vague”, “problematic” and “rushed”.

Centre-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, eyeing an election early next year, has enthusiastically championed the ban and rallied Aussie parents to get behind it. In the run-up to Wednesday´s vote, he painted social media as “a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators”.

He wanted, he said, young Australians “off their phones and onto the footy and cricket field, the tennis and netball courts, in the swimming pool”.

On paper, the ban is one of the strictest in the world.

However, the current legislation offers almost no details on how the rules will be enforced. It will be at least 12 months before the details are worked out by regulators and the ban comes into effect.

Many experts are sceptical that the ban can be implemented in any meaningful way, pointing out that many age restrictions can easily be easily circumvented.

Late amendments explicitly bar social media firms from requiring new users to present government-issued ID to prove their age.