Australia Passes World-First Social Media Ban for Children Under 16
Australia's Parliament, sitting in the capital Canberra, passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill on the night of November 28, making Australia the first country in the world to bar children under 16 from holding social media accounts by law. The bill was put forward by the government of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and introduced in the House of Representatives on November 21 by Communications Minister Michelle Rowland. The House passed it by an overwhelming majority on November 27, and the Senate passed it on November 28 by 34 votes to 19.
The law amends Australia's Online Safety Act 2021 and requires "age-restricted social media platforms" to take reasonable steps to prevent Australian children under 16 from creating or holding accounts. Platforms that systemically fail to comply face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars; the law imposes no penalty on children or their parents, placing the legal duty entirely on the platforms. The government said the ban was expected to cover platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X, while messaging apps were outside its scope.
Amendments carried in the Senate strengthened privacy protections: platforms may not compel users to provide government-issued identity documents such as passports or driver's licenses to verify age, nor demand digital identification through a government system. The House of Representatives agreed to the Senate amendments on November 29, completing passage through both chambers, and the bill received royal assent on December 10, becoming Act No. 127 of 2024. Platforms were given one year to prepare before the obligations take effect.
The Albanese government said the legislation was intended to protect young Australians during critical stages of their development from the harmful impacts of social media. Australia thereby became the first country to set a nationwide minimum age of 16 for social media, and the law has since become a reference point in debates over children's online safety in other countries. (Source: Parliament of Australia)
Source: Parliament of Australia
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：澳大利亚国会大厦，位于澳大利亚首都堪培拉。Dietmar Rabich 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Parliament House in Canberra, capital of Australia. Photo by Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
