Melbourne November 29, 2024 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau) – Ban on social media use by children under 16 in Australia Melbourne, November 29 (AP) The Australian Parliament on Friday approved a bill banning the use of social media by children under the age of 16, making Australia the first country in the world to make such a law. A bill has been passed in Australia to ban the use of social media for children up to 16 years of age. This bill will become a law after the approval of the Senate. This is the first time in the world when children under the age of 16 will not be able to use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. Apart from this, this bill will make social media companies responsible for enforcing this age limit.
Provision of strict penalty
If minors violate this ban, a hefty fine can be imposed on the concerned platform. YouTube has been exempted from this law due to its widespread use for educational purposes in schools. According to this law, if various social media platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit and X fail to prevent children under the age of 16 from creating accounts, then they can be fined up to 50 million Australian dollars (33 million US dollars) i.e. ₹ 270 crores. The Senate, the upper house of Parliament, approved the bill on Thursday. 34 votes were cast in favor of the bill while 19 were against it. The lower house House of Representatives approved the bill on Wednesday, where 102 votes were cast in favor of the bill while 13 were cast against it. The House of Representatives accepted the opposition’s amendments made in the Senate on Friday, with which the bill became law.
Responsibility of social media platforms increased
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that this law will help those parents who are worried about the harm caused to their children by social media. Albanese told reporters, “Social media platforms now have a social responsibility to ensure that the safety of our children is a priority for them.” Social media platforms will be given one year to implement the ban, after which fines will be imposed. Meta, the company that owns platforms like Facebook and Instagram, said that this law has been made in haste. Meta said, “We naturally respect the law passed by the Australian Parliament. However, we are concerned about the law being passed in haste without properly considering the evidence.”
Summary
Australia has become the first country in the world to implement a ban on social media use for children. The new regulation imposes a ₹270 crore fine on companies that allow minors to log into their platforms. This bold move aims to protect young users from potential harm and privacy risks associated with social media use.