Australian Government to enforce minimum age on social media with new law: ‘Parents are worried sick’
The Australian Government is enforcing a social media law to prevent children under a certain age from accessing such sites. (Stock Image/Getty)
The Australian Government is set to introduce laws to enforce a minimum age in order to use social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The federal government in Australia have pledged to enact legislation on this by the end of this year.
Children up to age 16 could soon be banned from using social media platforms in the country, but the cut-off age for the ban has yet to be announced.
The government – which has recently come under fire for excluding LGBTQ+ questions from the 2026 Census – will trial age verification technology ahead of the ban. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that the government are looking to ban children under the age of 14 or 16, but the PM has said he would prefer the “higher limit”.
The latest phase of testing includes assessing tools to prevent children from accessing pornographic sites, and teenagers between 13 and 16 from accessing social media sites.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Albanese said: “What we’re looking at is how you deliver it. We know that it’s not simple and it’s not easy. Otherwise, governments would have responded before.
“We want to make sure there’s a national response rather than eight different states responses.”
He added that social media was preoccupying children, and taking away from their real-life experiences with friends and family, as well as affecting their mental health. “Parents are worried sick about this. We know they’re working without a map. No generation has faced this challenge before.
“The safety and mental and physical health of our young people is paramount. Parents want their kids off their phones and on the footy field. So do I,” he said.
It comes as the government has pushed campaigns urging parents to understand the kind of content their children are engaging with online, particularly pornography and misogynistic messages on social media.
There are worries that young people watching such content – like that of Andrew Tate – could “normalise” degrading, aggressive behaviours, and contribute to domestic violence, homophobia and transphobia.
In June, the Australian Government released the fifth phase of their Stop It at the Start campaign, asking adults, “Do you know what’s influencing your kids?” The campaign video shows a young teenager looking at his phone, while various alarming messages like, “only alphas get girls” and clips of violence against women play out on the screen.
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