Australia officially implemented a social media ban for teenagers on Thursday, December 4, preventing individuals under the age of 16 from accessing social media to protect them from online risks and harms.
As reported by the eSafety Commission in February, one of the independent agencies of the Australian government responsible for regulating online safety, there are approximately 150,000 Facebook accounts and 350,000 Instagram accounts owned by people aged 13 to 15 years old.
These findings reinforced the government’s concerns about the scale of underage social media use and possible exposure of minors to harmful content. The eSafety Commission reported cases of cyberbullying, predatory behavior, and inappropriate material, which make teens under 16 vulnerable.
With this new policy, Australia aims to lessen the harm caused by early and unregulated social media exposure.
“With one law, we can protect Generation Alpha from being sucked into purgatory by the predatory algorithms described by the man who created the feature [social media] as behavioral cocaine,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said on Wednesday.
Furthermore, it has also been said that younger users can save and download their online histories.
“Before you turn 16, we will notify you that you will soon be allowed to regain access to these platforms, and your content will be restored exactly as you left it,” a Meta spokesperson said.
With this, Meta stated that the ban was implemented in accordance with its commitment to comply with Australian law. Still, it calls app stores to be held accountable for age verification instead.
“The government should require app stores to verify age and obtain parental approval whenever teens under 16 download apps, eliminating the need for teens to verify their age multiple times across different apps,”
Meta then added, “Social media platforms could then use this verified age information to ensure teens are in age-appropriate experiences.”
Although this social media ban is due to take effect on December 10, Meta started removing underage users from its Instagram, Facebook, and Threads platforms ahead of schedule, resulting in the shutdown of an estimated half a million accounts.
Beyond Meta’s services, TikTok, Snapchat, X, Reddit, Kick, Twitch, and YouTube have also been identified by the government as needing to implement the ban by next week. The platforms will face potential fines of $49.5 million should they fail to take reasonable steps to keep underage account holders from accessing social media.
Written by Summer L. Dela Rita, Insight PH
Summer L. Dela Rita, Insight PH is a dedicated campus journalist and contributor. Their insightful writing sparks meaningful conversations and keeps the community informed.
