The Australian Senate has approved a ban on under-16s using social media.

The Australian Senate has approved a ban on under-16s using social media. The country's internet regulator will enforce the ban. Following the approval of the world's strongest legislation by its Senate, Australia will prohibit children under the age of sixteen from using social media. 

If IT companies don't comply with the restriction, which won't go into effect for at least a year, they could be fined up to A$50 million ($32.5 million; £25.7 million). Many parent groups have supported Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's assertion that regulation is necessary to shield youth from the "harms" of social media. However, detractors claim that the ban's implementation and its effects on social interaction and privacy have not been fully addressed. Although this is not the first global effort to restrict kids' access to social media, it entails the maximum age that each nation has established, excluding people who are already active or who have parental permission. "This is a global problem and we want young Australians essentially to have a childhood," Albanese stated last week when he introduced the bill in the lower chamber. "We want parents to have peace of mind." The bill, which passed the Senate late Thursday by a vote of 34 to 19, will now go back to the House of Representatives, where the government has a majority, to approve revisions before becoming law. The platforms that will be prohibited are not specified in the Act. Australia's communications minister will make such choices later after consulting with the eSafety Commissioner A regulator of the internet who will enforce the regulations. YouTube, for example, is probably going to be spared because gaming and messaging platforms are exempt, as are websites that can be visited without an account. The limits will be implemented via age-verification technology, according to the government, and possibilities will be evaluated in the upcoming months. Social media companies will be responsible for adding these procedures on their own. Digital researchers have cautioned that there are no assurances that the unidentified technology, which might rely on identification data or biometrics, will function. Additionally, detractors have asked for guarantees that privacy will be maintained. They have also cautioned that tools like a VPN, which can conceal a user's location, make it simple to get around limitations and give the impression that they are signing in from a different nation. However, there won't be any consequences for kids who manage to break the guidelines. According to limited polling, the majority of Australian parents and caregivers approve the measures. Amy Friedlander, one of the people advocating for the ban, told the BBC recently that "parents have had this impossible choice for too long between giving in and getting their child an addictive device or seeing their child isolated and feeling left out." "We've been trapped in a norm that no one wants to be a part of." However, a number of specialists have cautioned that the ban is "too blunt an instrument" to adequately address the risks linked with social media use ultimately force kids into less supervised online areas. Google and Snap criticized the legislation for lacking additional details during the brief consultation time prior to its passage, while Meta claimed the bill would be "ineffective" and fail to achieve its claimed goal of making children safer. The government's definition of a social media platform, according to TikTok's petition, is so "broad and unclear" that "almost every online service could fall within [it]". X questioned the "lawfulness" of the measure, claiming that it might not be in accordance with human rights treaties and international laws that Australia has ratified. Additionally, several youth advocates charged that the government was ignoring the significance of social media in their lives and excluding them from the discussion. The eSafety Youth Council, which provides advice to the regulator, commented, "We understand we are vulnerable to the risks and negative impacts of social media... but we need to be involved in developing solutions." Albanese has staunchly defended the law while acknowledging that the issue is complicated. "We all know technology moves fast and some people will try to find ways around these new laws but that is not a reason to ignore the responsibility that we have," he stated. Although research shows that nearly half of users were able to get around the restriction by using a VPN, France adopted legislation last year to block children under the age of 15 from using social media without parental authorization. Utah, a US state, had a statute that was comparable to Australia's It was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge and reversed. International leaders are keeping a close eye on Australia's laws. The UK's technology secretary stated last week that a similar prohibition was "on the table"—but he later added, "not... at the moment." Norway has lately promised to follow the nation's lead.