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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Monday that his government was introducing legislation to strengthen the country’s ban on social media accounts for children under 16.
Albanese praised the ban’s success, stating that it has led to the deletion of over five million social media accounts for children under 16. He noted, however, issues with compliance by social media companies. Albanese stated:
On Friday, Albanese had vowed to make the rules robust enough to withstand legal challenge, even as a growing body of evidence indicates the ban has done little to change how teenagers use the platforms. He stated his office was examining whether the country’s online regulator has “every power at her disposal.”
The renewed push comes as the regulator prepares enforcement action against major technology companies. Simultaneously, the Australian government must defend the law against a separate High Court challenge brought by Reddit. The effort follows a study published this week in The BMJ, which found that over 85 percent of Australian participants under 16 were still using social media three months post-ban. Researchers at the University of Newcastle surveyed 408 adolescents aged 12 to 17 shortly before and three months after restrictions began. They reported that most underage users remained active through their own accounts. About two-thirds said they had encountered platform age-verification checks, usually a self-declaration of their age or an acceptable selfie.
The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has described the measure not as an outright ban but as a delay to having accounts. Thus, platforms, not children and parents, bear responsibility to take reasonable steps to keep under-16s off their services. Platforms that fail to do so face penalties of up to $49.5 million Australian dollars ($34 million in US dollars).
The enforcement push has been building for months. In April, the regulator reported that major platforms were showing poor compliance practices, necessitating a stronger enforcement stance. Notably, platforms allowed minors to repeatedly retry age-assurance and failed to stop under-16 accounts from being created. The government had earlier relayed that it would require platforms to file monthly reports on removed underage accounts. The push parallels that of outgoing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who signaled that his government would ban under-16s from social media by the spring of next year. The British government said it would go further than Australia, restricting live streaming and banning strangers from contacting children.
The law has drawn both pointed criticism and lawsuits. Amnesty International called it an “ineffective quick fix” that risks pushing young people’s activity underground rather than addressing the engagement-maximizing design of the platforms themselves. In a separate challenge, Reddit argues the law is overbroad, infringes privacy and free expression, and that Reddit is not a traditional social network. The government maintains that a blanket measure is necessary to protect children’s mental health.
The post Australia moves to strengthen under-16 social media ban amid evidence of enforcement concerns appeared first on JURIST - News.
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Albanese praised the ban’s success, stating that it has led to the deletion of over five million social media accounts for children under 16. He noted, however, issues with compliance by social media companies. Albanese stated:
On Friday, Albanese had vowed to make the rules robust enough to withstand legal challenge, even as a growing body of evidence indicates the ban has done little to change how teenagers use the platforms. He stated his office was examining whether the country’s online regulator has “every power at her disposal.”
The renewed push comes as the regulator prepares enforcement action against major technology companies. Simultaneously, the Australian government must defend the law against a separate High Court challenge brought by Reddit. The effort follows a study published this week in The BMJ, which found that over 85 percent of Australian participants under 16 were still using social media three months post-ban. Researchers at the University of Newcastle surveyed 408 adolescents aged 12 to 17 shortly before and three months after restrictions began. They reported that most underage users remained active through their own accounts. About two-thirds said they had encountered platform age-verification checks, usually a self-declaration of their age or an acceptable selfie.
The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has described the measure not as an outright ban but as a delay to having accounts. Thus, platforms, not children and parents, bear responsibility to take reasonable steps to keep under-16s off their services. Platforms that fail to do so face penalties of up to $49.5 million Australian dollars ($34 million in US dollars).
The enforcement push has been building for months. In April, the regulator reported that major platforms were showing poor compliance practices, necessitating a stronger enforcement stance. Notably, platforms allowed minors to repeatedly retry age-assurance and failed to stop under-16 accounts from being created. The government had earlier relayed that it would require platforms to file monthly reports on removed underage accounts. The push parallels that of outgoing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who signaled that his government would ban under-16s from social media by the spring of next year. The British government said it would go further than Australia, restricting live streaming and banning strangers from contacting children.
The law has drawn both pointed criticism and lawsuits. Amnesty International called it an “ineffective quick fix” that risks pushing young people’s activity underground rather than addressing the engagement-maximizing design of the platforms themselves. In a separate challenge, Reddit argues the law is overbroad, infringes privacy and free expression, and that Reddit is not a traditional social network. The government maintains that a blanket measure is necessary to protect children’s mental health.
The post Australia moves to strengthen under-16 social media ban amid evidence of enforcement concerns appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.