Australian Prime Minister Calls on Both Houses to Pass Under 16 Social Media Ban

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has backed the ban, urging the government to finalise the bill before Christmas.

A photo of logos of major social media platforms and companies taken in Canberra, Australia, on Nov. 7, 2024. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged both Houses to pass the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 on Nov. 25.

The Bill will restrict under 16 year olds from accessing social media, with a few exceptions.

“It will be something we can be very proud of. Let’s give parents new peace of mind. Let’s work together,” he told the Parliament, asking them to work together to pass the bill by end of this week.

This is the last session of Parliament for the year.

“Social media companies must take responsibility for the social harm caused by their platforms,” Albanese said.

The bill includes penalties of up to $50 million for companies failing to enforce age restrictions, provides exemptions for essential services like educational tools, as well as privacy protections ensuring the destruction of data used for age verification.

Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland added that social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Reddit, and X would be blocked.

“This Bill seeks to set a new normative value in society—that accessing social media is not the defining feature of growing up in Australia,” Rowland said.

“There is wide acknowledgment that something must be done, in the immediate term, to help prevent young teens and children from being exposed to streams of content, unfiltered and infinite.”

Addressing rising youth mental health issues was linked to the social media ban, Albanese noted.

“We owe it to every family to act decisively. This law is a tool for parents, supporting their efforts to protect their children from harm.”

Albanese said the initiative sets Australia as a global leader in addressing youth-related online risks, and that it would promote a shift towards “real-world engagement” in sports, the arts, and community activities.

Last week, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton also urged the government to finalise the legislation before Christmas, citing limited parliamentary time.

“We’ve got two sitting weeks coming up, and we would encourage the government to continue the drafting process to get the bill into parliament,” he told reporters on Nov. 12.

Meanwhile, in a Senate Inquiry on the Bill on the same day, Bryn Austin, a professor from Harvard University, endorsed the legislation but cautioned that Big Tech firms could beslow to implement the law.

Fellow academic and researcher Amanda Raffoul highlighted the “substantial advertising revenue” derived from young users and called for stricter regulations to prioritise youth well-being.