Australian House of Representatives passes bill banning social media for children

The Australian House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that prohibit children under 16 from accessing social networksleaving the Senate to finalize the world’s first law.

Major parties backed the bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable to fines of up to A$50 million ($33 million) for systemic failure aimed at prevent young children from holding accounts.

The legislation passed by a vote of 102 to 13. If the bill becomes law this week, platforms would have a year to determine how to implement age restrictions before penalties are applied.

Opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan told parliament the government had agreed to accept amendments in the Senate that would strengthen privacy protections.

Platforms would not be allowed to require users to provide government-issued identity documents, including a passport or driver’s license.

Platforms also could not require digital identification through a government system.

“Will it be perfect? No. But is a law perfect? No, that’s not the case. But if it helps, even if it helps in a small way, it will make a huge difference to people’s lives,” Tehan told Parliament.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the Senate would debate the bill later on Wednesday. Support from the major parties virtually guarantees that the bill will pass the Senate, where no party holds a majority of seats.

Lawmakers who were aligned with neither the government nor the opposition were the most critical of the bill during debate on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Criticisms include that the bill was rushed through Parliament without adequate review, that it would not work, that it would create privacy risks for users of all ages, and that it would take away from parents the power to decide what is best for their children.

Critics also argue that the ban would isolate children, deprive them of the positive aspects of social media, push them toward the dark web, make children too young for social media reluctant to report harm they have suffered, and remove incentives for platforms to make online spaces safer.

Independent lawmaker Zoe Daniel said the legislation “would make no difference to the harms inherent in social media”.

“The real aim of this legislation is not to make social media safe by design, but to give parents and voters the feeling that the government is doing something about it,” Daniel told parliament.

“There’s a reason why the government is touting this legislation as the best in the world, it’s because no other country wants to adopt it,” she added.

The platforms had called for a vote on the legislation to be delayed until at least June next year, when a government-commissioned assessment of age-guarantee technologies reports on how the ban could be considered.

Melbourne resident Wayne Holdsworth, whose 17-year-old son Mac committed suicide last year after falling victim to an online sextortion scam, described the bill as “absolutely essential for the safety of our children.”

“It’s not the only thing we need to do to protect them because education is the key, but providing immediate support for our children and our parents to be able to manage this is a big step ” said the 65-year-old. ” an online safety activist told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

“And in my opinion, this is the greatest period in the history of our country,” he added, referring to the ongoing legal reform.