Social media ban for children under 16 becomes law in Australia

Canberra, Nov 29 (IANS) With bipartisan support, the bill of social media ban for children under 16 passed the Senate of Australia.

Under the world-first law, children and teenagers under the age of 16 in Australia will be banned from using social media from the end of next year, a move the government and the opposition party argue is necessary to protect their mental health and wellbeing, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the bill passed by a comfortable margin, with Labor and most of the Coalition voting together. However, most of the crossbench voted against the bill.

Under the law, social media companies could be fined up to 50 million Australian dollars (about $32.5 million) for failing to take "reasonable steps" to keep children under 16 off their platforms.

There are no penalties for young people or parents who flout the rules.

Social media companies also won't be able to force users to provide government identification, including the Digital ID, to assess their age.

"Messaging apps," "online gaming services" and "services with the primary purpose of supporting the health and education of end-users" will not fall under the ban, as well as sites like YouTube that do not require users to log in to access the platform.

--IANS

int/rs