Australia bans social media for children between the ages of 14 and 16

The Australian government has announced that it is preparing legislation to prohibit children from accessing social media. The minimum age limit has not yet been determined, but it may be 14-16 years.

This year, the Australian federal government announced that it would enact a law to prevent children from accessing social media. This was reported by Gazeta.uz, based on information provided by Variety.

The minimum age has not yet been determined. According to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the government is considering banning children aged 14-16 from using Instagram and TikTok, while he himself prefers to set the minimum age at 16.

"I want children to move away from their gadgets and go out to soccer fields, swimming pools, and tennis courts. We want them to have real experiences with real people," Albanese said.

The government is currently testing age verification methods and will eventually decide on introducing a minimum age limit. The bill will be developed in collaboration with all states to avoid discrepancies in local regulations.

If the law is passed, Australia will become one of the first countries in the world to introduce age restrictions on social media. Previous attempts, including those by the European Union, were unsuccessful due to complaints about restrictions on minors' rights online, Reuters reports.

Australia's internet regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, warned a few months ago that "restriction-based approaches may limit young people from extremely important support" and encourage them to use "relatively less regulated services."

In a statement released on September 10, the regulator said that it would continue to work with stakeholders in the government and community to improve its approach to addressing social media harms that could pose a threat to safety at all ages, both before and after adolescence, across various platforms in Australia.

The Guardian clarified that the country's authorities have already announced a tender for a trial version of age verification technology. The publication added that it remains unclear what methods can be used and whether the ban itself will be effective.

• In March, the U.S. state of Florida passed a law prohibiting children under 14 from opening social media accounts. Companies that violate the restrictions will be fined up to $50,000. These measures became one of the most drastic in the United States.

• The Chinese government also planned to limit internet usage time for children under 18 on mobile devices. In August last year, they introduced rules for distributing online content based on children's ages.