Khaberni - Australia will begin, from midnight (Tuesday-Wednesday), to implement the first law in the world that bans the use of social media for anyone under the age of 16, which will force major platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat to block over a million Australian accounts in the coming hours, or face fines up to AUD 49.5 million (about USD 33 million) per breach.
Social media ban on children
The law, ratified by the Australian Parliament weeks ago with an overwhelming majority, initially includes ten main platforms, among them Facebook and Instagram (Meta), TikTok (ByteDance), YouTube (Google), Snapchat, Reddit, and others, while temporarily exempting messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Messenger, as well as electronic games and education applications.
The Australian eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, stated that the ban is "not criminalizing children, but a responsibility on the companies that designed their products to be addictive," and the commission has tasked Stanford University and 11 academic researchers with a scientific study that will last at least two years to measure the impact of the ban on the mental and social health of thousands of Australian teenagers.
Parental praise
Parents and child protection organizations have praised the law, while major tech companies and freedom of expression organizations have attacked it, describing it as "unprecedented censorship" and "a violation of digital human rights."
Elon Musk's rejection
Elon Musk, owner of the platform "X" (formerly Twitter), announced that he will not comply with the law, describing it as "a backdoor to controlling the internet for all Australians," while other platforms confirmed that they would adopt "age-guessing" technologies through analyzing digital behavior, recognizing faces from selfie photos, or asking for identity documents or linking the account to a bank account.
Government statistics
Government statistics showed that 86% of Australian children between ages 8 and 15 were using social media prior to the ban, even though most platforms officially set the minimum age at 13, a limit that was not actually enforced effectively.
Professor Tama Leaver, Internet Studies professor at Curtin University, said: "Australia today is like the canary in the coal mine; the whole world is watching, and if the experiment succeeds, we will witness a global wave of strict regulation."
British anticipation
The British government confirmed that it is "closely watching" the Australian approach, while countries like Denmark, Malaysia, and some US states have announced their intention to enact similar laws.
Experts believe that the ban represents "the beginning of the end" of the old model of social media based on unlimited expansion, especially after Meta's 2021 leaks that revealed the company was aware that its products contribute to body image problems and suicidal thoughts among teenagers, while it publicly denied such impacts.
Professor Terry Flew, director of the Centre for AI and Trust at the University of Sydney, concluded, saying: "The days of considering social media a platform for unrestricted free expression are over, if these rules had been in place during the boom era, we wouldn’t be having this discussion today."
