Australia tells tots: No TikTok till you're 16... or X, Instagram and Facebook

Tech companies, not users, to be punished for violations of social media time-out

The Australian government has confirmed it will create legislation that bans access to social media for people under the age of 16.

"The Bill builds upon the Australian Government's work to address online harms for young people, including the $6.5 million age assurance trial, establishing an online dating apps code, legislating new criminal penalties for non-consensual sexual deepfakes, and quadrupling base funding for the eSafety Commissioner," explained a notice from the prime minister's office on November 8.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government has worked toward the plan for months, but only late last week did it finally receive backing from the National Cabinet.

The legislation will be introduced in the next Parliament in the following two weeks, but won't go into effect for another year.

Services that primarily provide education and health services will not be included in the ban. The nation's eSafety Commissioner will handle oversight and enforcement. Under the current legislation, maximum fines are less than a million dollars.

The new bill "puts the onus" on social media platforms instead of parents to make sure fundamental protections are in place, the notice stated.

Social media platforms named by the administration include Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X. Minister of Communications Michelle Rowland said YouTube "would likely fall within that definition as well."

"I want parents to be able to say, 'sorry mate, it's against the law for me to get you to do this,'" stated Albanese in a press conference.

The Prime Minister specified there will be no penalties for users. There are also no exemptions from the policy for those with parental consent nor any opportunity for "grandfathering in" those who already have accounts.

As to how exactly age verification would be executed, Rowland said that was part of the purpose of the nation's $6.5 million age assurance trial.

Launched earlier this year, the trial tests ways of automatically detecting age. The trial includes evaluating methods like biometric facial analysis, voice analysis, and behavioral data to estimate user age without relying solely on traditional identification.

The 12-month lead time is designed to make sure implementation is done in a "practical way," said Rowland.

"But let's be clear too, these platforms know their users better than anyone," added Rowland. "These platforms understand their habits, their capabilities, what sort of content should be driven to them, and what their behaviors are."

Meta posted a blog last week in which it made a case for parental approval for under-16s rather than a ban. That approval, it suggested, could be executed in the app store.

Meta told The Register in a statement:

We respect any age limitations the government wants to introduce for social media use. However, what's missing is a deeper discussion on how we implement protections, otherwise we risk making ourselves feel better, like we have acted, but teens and parents will not find themselves in a better place.

The research shows parents want to be involved in their teens' online lives and want to have a say in determining what's appropriate for their individual teens.

We strongly believe parental approval and age verification at the operating system and app store level will provide a simple and effective solution, while also reducing the burden and privacy risk for parents and teens.

Social media's harm to children has been extensively documented. For example, US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy cited adolescents who spend more than three hours per day on social media as having double the risk of developing depression and anxiety. Murthy has advocated for health warning labels on social networks.

The US has been working on its own age verification software, but the results of its efforts remain unreliable.

The UK's communications regulator, Ofcom, has also outlined guidance on how online services might verify age. Some MPs have actually pushed for a total ban on smartphones until the age of 16.

However, Australia's new bill will be the most concrete age-related legislation by a government on social media yet.

"We don't argue that the changes that we will be legislating will fix everything immediately. We have laws such as people can't buy alcohol if they're under 18, and from time to time that can be broken," Albanese conceded. "But those laws set what the parameters are for our society and they assist in ensuring the right outcomes." ®