Australia to Implement the World’s First Teen Social Media Ban
Over 1.3 million Australian children under 13 use social media, despite most platforms banning them from accessing it (Flickr).
Australia’s 2024 Online Safety Amendment will take effect on December 10, per the country’s eSafety Commissioner. Once implemented, it will prevent youth under age 16 from accessing specific social media platforms. The amendment is the first of its kind in the entire world, raising questions about whether a social media ban is feasible and ethical.
The Online Safety Amendment is one of the Australian government’s most recent efforts to address digital safety. According to Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, the amendment will make it illegal for all children under age 16 to access “age-restricted” social media platforms. Websites and apps with this designation are legally required to strengthen their age-verification measures. Companies that fail to do this for their platforms risk fines exceeding USD $30 million.
In preparation for the ban’s implementation, the Australian government has created a working blacklist of “age-restricted” platforms, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The most recent edition, dated November 5, contains many sites popular among children and adolescents, including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Starting on December 10, Australians who are proven to be underage will be unable to log in or create new accounts on these platforms. If executed as intended, this amendment could prevent millions of Australian children from being exposed to sexual abuse, cyberbullying, and inappropriate content. More pressingly, it could help protect the over 1.3 million underage Australians who are believed to currently use social media.
Despite these benefits, ABC reports that the amendment has come under heavy scrutiny for its age verification methods. For one, opponents argue that age checks are easy to bypass using masks, artificial intelligence, and VPNs. Some have also argued that the premise of a social media ban inherently violates Australia’s international agreements to protect children’s human rights, per the Australian Human Rights Institute. These include the rights to free expression, play and leisure, and information access. The government’s advocacy for “age assurance” technologies, which use biometric information, artificial intelligence, or user data to estimate a person’s age, has also been seen as controversial. With the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner reporting a record 1,113 data breaches from governments and businesses last year, administering the ban could leave Australian children’s personal information susceptible to future attacks.
Within parliament, the Online Safety Amendment initially had strong bipartisan support. The legislation was passed in Australia’s upper and lower houses after eight days, and had an approval rating of 77 percent amongst the Australian public. However, sentiments appear to have shifted. Although incumbent Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese continues to publicly advocate for the ban, politicians in the Liberal-National Coalition, including Shadow Minister for Communications Melissa McIntosh, have raised concerns that the legislation is not yet ready for implementation. Whatever the case may be, the amendment is still slated to go into effect on December 10.
According to Cyber News, although social media companies have opposed the amendment since its conception, they have generally conceded to its terms. However, many platforms seem to be repurposing their marketing software to estimate ages instead of replacing their current systems. Specifically, Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat plan to freeze accounts based on what content users engage with using “likes”.
Debates surrounding the 2024 Online Safety Amendment have and will continue, but one can only speculate on its effectiveness. However, as the first social media ban of its kind, it is guaranteed to set a precedent for how social media is treated in the future.