Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday (10) the government’s intention to ban the use of social media for teenagers and children.
The prime minister said the bill is expected to be introduced into the Australian parliament by the end of this year. The minimum age, he said, to be set would be around 14 to 16 years old.
Albanese said his government would first conduct an age verification trial before introducing minimum age legislation to limit the use of digital platforms. An estimated $6.5 million procurement project for age verification or assurance technology was already budgeted by the government in May.
The prime minister justified the initiative by protecting the mental and physical health of children and adolescents. “I want to see children away from their devices and going to football pitches, swimming pools and tennis courts. […] We want them to have real experiences with real people because we know that social media is causing harm,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The measure has broad political support, with supporters both in the center-left Labor government and the conservative opposition coalition. Some states have even moved to control the minimum age for social media use.
On the other hand, some experts see the initiative as a problem due to the possibility of clandestine use of digital platforms.
Earlier this year, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who is responsible for monitoring Australians’ online behaviour, warned that “if age-based restrictions are imposed, eSafety has concerns that some young people may be accessing social media in secret.”
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