Governments across Australia want to ban under-16s from accessing social media platforms to protect young people from negative impacts of excessive time online.Governments across Australia want to ban under-16s from accessing social media platforms to protect young people from negative impacts of excessive time online.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, also wants Australia to take a national response to social media, which she said is making antisemitism, racism and gender-based violence worse. Albanese has also pointed to the government’s proposed age assurance trial, which was allocated $6.5m in funding in last week’s budget.
It has outlined five ways companies can make sure people are the age they say they are, but some of these would not work for people aged under 16:Allowing mobile providers to confirm a user is an adult. “Germany has legislated age verification by prohibiting the distribution of pornography via media or teleservices if it is accessible to children”, but “it has also faced difficulty in compliance and enforcement, with attempts to block noncompliant websites currently before the courts”.