Landmark bill to ban children from social media passes Senate

The landmark restriction to ban social media for children under 16 in Australia passed the Senate on Thursday night.

While specific sites aren’t named, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Snapchat, and Facebook are among those the laws will apply to under the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill.

The Briefing recently explored how a ban of children on social media will affect you:

The Bill passed 34 votes to 19, despite some crossbench and opposition MPs slamming it for being rushed.

Introduced to parliament just last week, Australians had only one day to lodge submissions regarding the ban – with around 15,000 received.

Parents’ reactions to the Bill were mostly positive, but questions were raised about how the plan would work, with some agreeing its implementation was rushed.

Social media platforms will be required to take steps to prevent children from using them. Companies that fail to comply will be fined over $50 million.

However, parents and children will not face penalties for noncompliance.

The final phase of passing the legislation is through the House of Representatives on Friday morning, where the Labor government holds a majority.

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