Australia launches bill banning social media for under 16s – DW – 11/21/2024
www.dw.com
The bill proposes a fine of up to AU$50 million on social media platforms if they fail to uphold the ban. It also does not allow for an exemption for parents to allow their children to use social media.

Summary

Australia has introduced a bill to ban social media access for children under 16, enforcing strict penalties of up to AU$50 million for non-compliance.

The law would require biometric or government ID for age verification and prohibits parental consent as an exemption.

While aiming to protect children from harmful content, critics argue it may drive teens to unregulated platforms.

Some services, like YouTube and WhatsApp, will be exempt for educational or messaging purposes.

The bill has bipartisan support but faces scrutiny from independents and child welfare advocates.

    • Aurenkin@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      191·
      3 days ago

      I get that it would probably be a net good if we could keep kids off social media. Unfortunately this is one of those things that the cost of any remotely effective enforcement is higher than the benefit in my view at least.

    • ms.lane@lemmy.worldEnglish
      17·
      3 days ago

      Do you think Lemmy will integrate biometric IDs for Australia?

      This affects Adults too.

      • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zipEnglish
        6·
        3 days ago

        No, because a lot of people here care about digital sovereignty. Otherwise, we would still be on Facebook. So, if the main developers integrated that into the software, people would strip it out and fire the main software developer, or they would strip it out at every version that got released and then release it without it.

          • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zipEnglish
            42·
            3 days ago

            I mean, they can’t enforce it because there are so many instances all over the world. They can’t possibly target every instance administrator.

            • Maalus@lemmy.worldEnglish
              4·
              3 days ago

              First of all, yeah they can. Second of all, they get rid of the main ones and suddenly there is a lot less of Lemmy out there.

              Not caring about laws isn’t something to be proud of. Lemmy will get left behind because the devs don’t care about GDPR or laws like these. Admins will get hit by huge fines and lives will be ruined. Same with illegal content being shared to federated instances automatically. You won’t be able to explain that it was on your machine “because federation” in court.

            • bitwiseEnglish
              4·
              3 days ago

              I worry that this will also affect political awareness amongst teens in a way that encumbent parties and business will happily exploit for their own gain.

              If it’s “successful”, expect to see similar legislation proposed throughout the world.