Janice R. Andrews
Anthony Albanese, the prime minister of Australia, has said that he wants to pass laws that might make it illegal for kids under a certain age to use social media. During an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the Prime Minister talked about his idea. He was worried about the bad effects that social media has on young people. Albanese didn’t say exactly what age limit it was, but he thought it would be for kids younger than 14 to 16 years old.
Albanese said that as part of the plan, the government will test age verification technology later this year. He talked about how social media is bad for young people and how better defenses are needed.
Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, responded by saying that both sites already require users to be at least 13 years old. Meta also talked about how important it is to give teens and young adults the tools they need to use social media safely with the help of parental limits instead of completely banning it.
The push for social media rules in Australia is similar to similar attempts around the world. In the U.S., politicians have put forward bills that would make it harder for children to use social media. Last year, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley proposed a bill that would make it illegal for kids under 16 to use these sites. Also, Utah passed rules in 2023 that said teens who wanted to use social media accounts had to get permission from their parents and show ID. However, the ID requirement was later removed.
In the past few years, worries about how kids’ use of social media affects their mental health have grown a lot. There are 42 attorneys general in the United States who signed an open letter in support of U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s plan to require health warnings on social media sites, similar to the warnings on cigarette packages.
As Australia goes forward with its social media plan, the fight over how to balance online safety and access for kids keeps going.
