Australia bans children from social networks! Everything you need to know about the new law
2024-11-27 14:36:12
TiranaPost
Australia's House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bill that would ban children under the age of 16 from using social media. Now, the finalization of this law, unprecedented in the world, is in the hands of the Senate of Australia.
Major parties backed the bill, which would see platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram fined up to A$50 million for systematic failures to prevent children from opening accounts.
The law was approved with 102 votes in favor and 13 against. If the bill becomes law this week, platforms will have a year to implement age restrictions before penalties kick in. Opposition MP Dan Tehan said the Government had agreed to accept amendments in the Senate that would strengthen privacy protection. Platforms will not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identification documents, including passports or licenses, nor require digital identification through a government system.
"Will it be perfect? No. But is any law perfect? No, it isn't. But if it helps, even if it helps in the smallest way, it will make a big difference in people's lives," Tehan said in Parliament.
The bill was introduced in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon, but the session closed hours later without a vote. The legislation is expected to be approved on Thursday, during Parliament's last session for the year and possibly the last before elections, which are expected in a few months.
Support from the major parties almost guarantees passage of the legislation in the Senate, where no party has a majority of seats.
MPs not affiliated with the government or the opposition were the most critical of the bill during the debate on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Criticisms include arguments that the legislation has been rushed through Parliament without sufficient scrutiny, that it will not work and will create privacy risks for users of all ages, as well as take away parents' authority to decide what is best for them. good for their children.
Critics also argue that the ban will isolate children, deprive them of the positive aspects of social networks, push them towards the dark web, make children too young for social networks reluctant to report the damages encountered.
Independent MP Zoe Daniel said the legislation would "make no difference to the harms that are inherent in social media."
"The real goal of this legislation is not to make the social network safe by design, but to make parents and voters feel like the government is doing something about it," Daniel said.
"There is a reason why the government advertises this law as a world first, because no other country wants to do it," she added.
The platforms had called for the vote to be postponed until at least June next year, when a government-commissioned report on age verification technologies would make recommendations on how the ban could be implemented.
Wayne Holdsworth, whose 17-year-old son Mac took his own life last year after falling victim to an online sex blackmail scheme, described the bill as "absolutely necessary for the safety of children".
"It's not the only thing we need to do to protect them, because education is key, but to provide immediate support for children and parents to manage this situation, it's a big step," he said on Tuesday. to the Associated Press, the 65-year-old online safety activist.
