Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced plans on Thursday to prohibit children under 16 from accessing social media, asserting that platforms like Facebook and TikTok are causing "real harm” to young users.
The proposed law would require tech companies to enforce the age restriction and face heavy penalties if regulators discover minors bypassing the age checks.
With this move, Australia joins a select group of countries striving to curb social media’s impact on young people. If approved, the restriction would be among the world’s toughest measures on youth social media access.
"This one is for the mums and dads. Social media is doing real harm to kids, and I’m calling time on it,” Albanese said outside parliament.
The legislation is expected to be presented to state and territory leaders this week before heading to parliament in late November.
Once enacted, the platforms would have a one-year grace period to establish compliance measures.
"The responsibility will be on social media platforms to show they are actively working to restrict access,” Albanese stated, calling the measure a "world-leading” reform that removes the burden from parents.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, voiced respect for the proposed age limits but urged careful consideration of the implementation process.
Antigone Davis, Meta’s head of safety, cautioned that poorly crafted laws might give a false sense of security without improving outcomes for teens and parents.
DIGI, an industry body representing social media companies, echoed concerns about
restricting teens’ access, suggesting it could limit access to mental health support.
"Swimming has risks, but we don’t ban young people from the beach. We teach them to swim between the flags,” a DIGI spokesperson commented.
TikTok declined to comment at this stage.