Australians woke up today to the news that the Senate passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill by 34 votes to 19 on Thursday evening.
It will now be put in the hands of the House of Representatives, where it must pass with a majority vote in order to become law. The Bill is expected to pass the House, where the government holds the majority, on Friday morning, 29 November.
It means that anyone under the age of 16 will be barred from using popular platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Reddit.
Social media companies like Meta, that owns Instagram and Facebook, will be required to take steps to prevent under-16s from using their services as part of the historic Bill.
Companies that fail to comply may be subjected to a $50m fine. Parents or children who fail to comply will not face any penalties
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says the government recognises “parents are concerned about the harms (social media can have) to children”.
“Keeping Australians safe online requires decisive action and the Albanese government is delivering exactly that,” she says.
The Coalition backed the legislation, calling it important step in protecting children and teenagers from the “harms” of social media, and arguing the age limit will help keep them safe.
The Bill, which was introduced to parliament last week – with only three days on the sitting parliamentary calendar – gave Australians one day to lodge submissions voicing their concerns related to the ban. Despite the brief time-frame available around 15,000 submissions were lodged, with an inquiry into the ban lasting just three hours.
But some critics say the ban will not effectively assist children and teenagers’ mental health, with the isolating nature of a social media ban pushing them on to alternative platforms, including the dark web.
Meta slams decision
A spokesman for Meta – the tech giant that owns Facebook and Instagram – argued there was a “lack of evidence” to suggest social media has a causal link with mental health in children.
“Naturally, we respect the laws decided by the Australian parliament. However, we are concerned about the process which rushed the legislation through while failing to properly consider the evidence, what industry already does to ensure age-appropriate experiences, and the voices of young people,” the statement read.
“Last week, the Parliament’s own committee said the “causal link with social media appears unclear,” with respect to the mental health of young Australians, whereas this week the rushed Senate Committee report pronounced that social media caused harm. This demonstrates the lack of evidence underpinning the legislation and suggests this was a predetermined process.
“The task now turns to ensuring there is productive consultation on all rules associated with the Bill to ensure a technically feasible outcome that does not place an onerous burden on parents and teens and a commitment that rules will be consistently applied across all social apps used by teens.
“One simple option is age verification at the operating system and app store level which reduces the burden and minimises the amount of sensitive information shared.”
