The House of Representatives of Australia approved this Wednesday a bill that would prohibit children under 16 from using social networksleaving it in the hands of the Senate to finalize the first law of its kind in the world.
Major parties backed the bill that would make platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X e Instagram be liable for fines of up to A$50 million ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from having accounts.
The legislation was approved by 102 votes in favor and 13 against. If the bill becomes law this week, platforms would have a year to determine how to implement the age restrictions before sanctions are applied.
Opposition MP Dan Tehan told parliament the government had agreed to accept amendments in the Senate that would strengthen privacy protections. Platforms could not force users to provide government-issued identification documents, including passports or driver’s licenses, nor could they require a digital ID through a government system.
“Will it be perfect? No. But is there any perfect law? No, it’s not. But if it helps, even in the smallest way, it will make a huge difference to people’s lives,” Tehan told Parliament.
The bill was presented to the Senate on Wednesday night for debate at an unspecified time.
Major party support virtually guarantees that the legislation will pass the Senate, where no party has a majority of seats.
Lawmakers who were not aligned with either the government or the opposition were the most critical of the legislation during the debate on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Criticisms include that the legislation was rushed through Parliament without proper scrutiny, would not work, would create privacy risks for users of all ages, and would take away parents’ authority to decide what is best for their children.
Critics also argue that the ban would isolate childrenwould deprive them of the positive aspects of social media, drive them to the dark web, make children too young for social media reluctant to report harms they encounter, and remove incentives for platforms to make spaces online are safer.
Independent lawmaker Zoe Daniel said the legislation “would make no difference to the harms inherent in social media.”
“The real goal of this legislation is not to make social media safe by design, but to make parents and voters feel that the government is doing something about it,” Daniel told Parliament.
“There is a reason why the government is presenting this legislation as world-leading: because no other country wants to implement it,” he added.
The platforms had asked that the vote be delayed until at least June next year, when a government-commissioned assessment of age-assurance technologies presented its report on how the ban could be enforced.
Melbourne resident Wayne Holdsworth, whose 17-year-old son Mac took his own life last year after being the victim of an online sextortion scam, described the bill as “absolutely essential for the safety of our children.”
“It’s not the only thing we need to do to protect them because education is the key, but providing some immediate support to our children and parents so they can handle this is a big step,” the security activist told The Associated Press on Tuesday. 65 year old line.
“And in my opinion, it is the best moment in the history of our country,” he added, referring to the pending legal reform.
(with information from AP)
