Australian administrators want to institute “a world-leading legislation” (NPR). This would see an age limit for children younger than 16 years old.

The goal is to ensure the safety of children from social media, with Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, saying, “Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it” (NPR). As of right now, the legislation is set to be put into place on November 18th, which is the “final two weeks in sessions this year” (AP News).

The age limit would come into effect 12 months later if the law is passed. This would mean that many of the social media platforms would have to create guidelines or figure out a way to omit children under the age of 16 from their platforms.

Albanese stated that “The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access” (CNN). Parental consent will not exclude users under the age of 16, from being able to use social media platforms. X, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and even Youtube, are all assumed to fall under this legislation.

Many countries have seen a ban on social media, with France Last year doing something similar, with the age dropping to 15 years old, but, “users were able to avoid the ban with parental consent” (CNN).

This legislation does not go unopposed as “More than 140 Australian and international academics with expertise in fields related to technology and child welfare signed an open letter to Albanese last month opposing a social media age limit” (AP News). The ban is seen as, extreme, as “young people are likely to circumvent a ban…young people are less likely to get support from parents and carers because they’re worried about getting in trouble” (AP News).

Many believe that this will not work and time will tell as Australia’s Government is gearing up for the law to be put into place.