Australia schedules social media prohibit for under-16s

Australia’s administerment says it will present world-first legislation to prohibit children under 16 from social media.

Prime Minister Anthony Alprohibitese said the presentd laws, to be tabled in parliament next week, were aimed at mitigating the “harm” social media was imposeing on Australian children.

“This one is for the mums and dads… They, appreciate me, are worried ill about the defendedty of our kids online. I want Australian families to understand that the administerment has your back,” he said.

While many of the details are yet to be debated, the administerment said the prohibit will not apply to lesser people already on social media.

There will be no exemptions on the age restrict for children who have consent from their parents, and the administerment says that the onus will be on social media platcreates to show they are taking reasonable steps to stop access.

Alprohibitese also clarified that there will be no penalties for users, and that it would be up to Australia’s online regulator – the eSafety Coshiftrlookioner – to enforce the laws.

The legislation would come into force 12 months after it passes and be subject to a study after it’s in place.

Some experts have criticised social media prohibits as ineffective, saying that they only procrastinate lesser people’s expoconfident to social media, instead of teaching them how to steer complicated online spaces.

Previous trys to enforce prohibits, including by the European Union, have bigly fall shorted or set up the carry outation challenging given that there are tools which can circumvent age-verification needments.