block underage users<\/a> by December 10, when the new law comes into force.<\/p>\nCompanies face fines of 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32m) if they fail to take \u201creasonable steps\u201d to comply.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands of adolescents are likely to be affected by the ban, with Instagram alone reporting about 350,000 Australian users aged 13 to 15.<\/p>\n
Some popular apps and websites, such as Roblox, Pinterest and WhatsApp, are exempt, but the list remains under review.<\/p>\n
Livestreaming service Twitch was added to the list less than two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Meta said it was committed to complying with Australian law, but it called for app stores to be held accountable for age verification instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government should require app stores to verify age and obtain parental approval whenever teens under 16 download apps, eliminating the need for teens to verify their age multiple times across different apps,\u201d the Meta spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSocial media platforms could then use this verified age information to ensure teens are in age-appropriate experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
YouTube has also attacked the social media ban.<\/p>\n
The video-streaming giant said this week the new law would make young Australians \u201cless safe\u201d because those below 16 could still visit the website without an account, but would lose YouTube safety filters.<\/p>\n
But Australia\u2019s Communications Minister Anika Wells described its argument as \u201cweird\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf YouTube is reminding us all that it is not safe and there\u2019s content not appropriate for age-restricted users on their website, that\u2019s a problem that YouTube needs to fix,\u201d said Wells.<\/p>\n
Wells added that some Australian teens had killed themselves as algorithms \u201clatched on\u201d \u2013 targeting them with content that drained their self-esteem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis specific law will not fix every harm occurring on the internet, but it will make it easier for kids to chase a better version of themselves,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Sydney-based internet rights group Digital Freedom Project said it had challenged the laws in Australia\u2019s High Court last week, calling them an \u201cunfair\u201d assault on freedom of speech.<\/p>\n
Platforms are expected to devise their own means to stop rebellious teenagers from trying to skirt the law, by using fake IDs, for instance, but \u201cno solution is likely to be 100 percent effective\u201d, the internet safety watchdog has said.<\/p>\n
There is keen interest in whether Australia\u2019s sweeping restrictions can work as regulators around the globe wrestle with the potential dangers of social media.<\/p>\n
Malaysia indicated it was planning to introduce a similar ban<\/a> next year.<\/p>\nWells said the European Commission, France, Denmark, Greece, Romania and New Zealand were also interested in setting a minimum age for social media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s world-first ban requires 10 major online platforms to block users aged 16. Published On 4 Dec 20254…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[77,64,63,514,44,84,16570,1314],"class_list":["post-326728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-asia-pacific","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mental-health","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-regulation","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}