Australia poised to implement first social media ban for those under 16

The Australian Senate Thursday overwhelmingly passed the world’s first law banning the use of social media for those under 16. 

The new law will make major social media platforms like X, TikTok, Facebook, and Snapchat responsible for ensuring individuals under 16 years of age cannot hold accounts on their sites or in their apps. Any failure to do so could expose the companies to fines up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million), per The Associated Press. 

The Senate approved the bill 34 to 19 on Thursday after the Australian House of Representatives passed the measure 102 to 13 the day before. 

The law gives social media platforms one year to devise a way to enforce the ban before fines can be imposed for noncompliance. 

“The core focus of this legislation is simple: It demands that social media companies take reasonable steps to identify and remove underage users from their platforms,” Liberal Party Senator Maria Kovacic told her colleagues, according to AP. 

“This is a responsibility these companies should have been fulfilling long ago, but for too long they have shirked these responsibilities in favor of profit,” she said.

Some critics warned that cutting those under 16 off from social media may have unintended negative effects, such as depriving young people of a sense of connection.

The Australian House will have to agree to new amendments added by the Senate to protect users' privacy that included a restriction on social media companies from requiring government-issued identity documents for age verification. Leadership has signaled that the amended bill will pass, according to AP.