Australia passes social media ban for under 16s

Australian senators person passed a world-first instrumentality that bans nether 16s from having societal media accounts.

The instrumentality is acceptable to travel into unit successful November 2025.

It includes immoderate of the toughest societal media controls successful the satellite and volition unit platforms to instrumentality tenable steps to guarantee age-verification protections are successful place.

The instrumentality volition marque platforms similar TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and X liable for fines of up to 50 cardinal Australian dollars (£25 million) if they don't systemically halt children younger than 16 from holding accounts.

The platforms volition person 1 twelvemonth to enactment retired however to instrumentality the prohibition earlier the fines travel into force.

In September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his authorities would proceedings property verification exertion earlier banning children from opening societal media accounts aboriginal this year.

At the time, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram and has a self-imposed minimum property of 13, said it wanted to empower young radical to payment from its platforms and supply parents tools to enactment them "instead of conscionable cutting disconnected access".

Australia's House of Representatives has yet to endorse amendments made successful the Senate, but that is simply a formality since the authorities has already agreed they volition pass.

In the UK, politicians are reportedly considering a akin ban.

The subject caput Peter Kyle told Sky News past week that helium wanted the regulator Ofcom to beryllium "more assertive" erstwhile it comes to "grotesque" behaviour connected societal media - including wherever teenagers person mislaid their lives.

"I don't privation to spell to things similar broad bans due to the fact that I privation radical to payment from each of the opportunities presented by modern technology.

"But wherever determination are harms, I volition support everything connected the array erstwhile it comes to keeping radical safe," helium said.

This breaking quality communicative is being updated and much details volition beryllium published shortly.

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