Australia on Wednesday became the first country to start with the imposition of a social media ban for all children aged 16 and below. One of its legislation has been News ever since its introduction, with many applauding and others criticising its feasibility. The regulations will impact at least one million users on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, among others, starting a wave of regulations across the world.
From midnight, 10 social media platforms have been regulated to ban the young Australian population from accessing the Platforms, or else pay a fine of 33 million dollars. The law has been criticised by technology companies and free policy advocates, while child activists and parents have come in support of the legislation. The legislation brings a debate to its close, starting another one. It is an exceptional step to understand if and how a country can prevent the use of social media among its children of their country, while also making it an experiment to see if this method helps.
Reports suggest that the governments of Malaysia and Denmark also plan to bring similar legislation. Some US states have also planned to bring a similar policy after it was found through leaked meta documents that the company was aware that social media influence on body types pressured children into suicidal thoughts. To make matters worse, the company denied the links publicly.
A professor from Curtin University, Tama Leaver, says that though Australia became the first country to bring such legislation, it won’t be the last. A British spokesperson commented that the government in England was closely monitoring the policy impacts of the Australian government. In July, the British government also ordered pornographic websites to restrict their use for children below the age of 18. The spokesperson further added that nothing was “off the table” when it came to child safety.
As of now, only 10 platforms are part of the legislation, but the Australian authorities have clarified that more applications can come under restriction if and when new applications are added to the ecosystem. All 10 platforms except X have complied with the legislation, which, as per the government, is expected to identify age via selfie, or identity proof via documents uploaded during the identification.
