The government of Australia is going to enact “world-leading” legislation. This law bans social media for those who are under the age of sixteen from using social media.  

According to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the proposed legislation aims to reduce the negatives that social media is causing to Australian youngsters.

“This one is for the mums and dads… They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online. I want Australian families to know that the government has your back,” he said.

Although there is still much to be decided, the administration stated that the ban will cover all the under-16s in Australia who already have accounts on social media. 

Before complete implementation or regulation, there are still many things about this that we are going to cover in the upcoming blog.

Why is Australia Imposing Social Media Ban for Children Under the Age of 16?

Mr. Albanese stated that the main driving force behind the legislation is the worries about the detrimental effects of social media on the mental health of young people. 

He declared, “I’m calling time on social media because it’s hurting our kids.”

In particular, the risks to girls from harmful depictions of body image, and misogynist content aimed at boys. 

What Social Media Apps are Banned in Australia?

• Instagram
• TikTok
• Facebook
• Snapchat 
• and X

Social Media Ban Australia: When does it start for Minors? 

The first step is for the law to pass both the Senate and the House of Representatives, which should happen by the end of this month, during the upcoming sitting weeks. Then it might not be in full operation for a year or more.

Social media companies will then have a year to organize before the regulation takes effect. Therefore, in practice, the prohibition will only affect users who are under 15 at the moment. Platforms are being given a year’s forgiveness because the technical fixes may be challenging to implement.

Is Australia First Nation World Wide to Take Steps to Ban the Use of Social Media for Youngsters?

Before the step taken by Australia for social media ban for children aged under 13, many other nations have formulated the same decision but differently. 

The UK has also set age limits for children aged under 13. but this nation allows children under 16 to access social media with the consent of their guardians. 

Likewise, South Korea and France have restricted the use of social platforms. Whereas the former limits children under 16 from accessing gaming apps and the latter makes consent necessary from parents to use social accounts for kids. 

Moreover, states across the US like Ohio and Florida,  China, Brazil, and Norway all took the initiative to stop social media platforms from harming children But somehow there were many loopholes due to which a complete ban did not come into effect. 

However, Brazil has recently imposed a ban completely on Twitter due to clashes with its policies. 

Whats Next?

After the announcement of the social media ban in Australia for children under age of 16, still there is the wait of the next announcements by the government. However, authorities are taking the step to overcome the negative influence of the social media on mental health of kids. Nevertheless, criticisers are claiming that social accounts have many positive sides too to make the kids get aware of large piece of information. Thus they are disagreeging the decision of the govt. 

The rest depends upon the next action of the PM regarding this step!

Author: mayank

Mayank Firani is a dedicated blog writer with expertise in crafting compelling content across various niches.