The Government of Australia announced this Thursday that seeks to limit access to social networks to those under 16 years of age through a legislative proposal. The objective of this measure is to mitigate the mental health problems of children and adolescents.
The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, who had already announced in September his intention to limit minors’ access to social networks and other digital platforms, revealed this Thursday that the minimum age will be 16 years. “This decision was made on Monday in the Council of Ministers,” he announced at a press conference in Canberra.
“Social networks are harming our children and I am going to put an end to it,” Albanese emphasized. The prime minister has justified his proposal by comparing it with other legal measures such as laws that prohibit minors under 18 years of age from purchasing alcoholic beverages.
The bill, which could reach Parliament in the coming weeks and would come into force twelve months after being approved, will not exclude minors who already have accounts on social networksnor to those who have parental consent. The president clarified that no sanctions will be imposed for users or parents and that it will be the owners of the social networks who will have the responsibility of enforcing the age limit.
In addition, the Australian Electronic Safety Commission will be responsible for publishing regulations for digital platforms to establish “reasonable measures” to restrict access to minors. “The well-being of children “It’s a collective responsibility.”said the Minister of Communications, Michelle Rowland.
This legislation could affect social networks such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X and YouTube, although exceptions are contemplated for platforms considered “low risk.” According to Rowland, The Australian Government has been in contact with the affected companies during the preparation of the proposal, which is expected to be refuted by companies like X.
With your plan, Australia echoes global concerns that led to Spain to set the minimum age to access a social network at 14 years. It is expected that this will also be raised to 16 here, given the risks to privacy, coercion, threats and computer scams.
In addition, In July, Puerto Rico decreed 18 years as the minimum age so that a person can activate an account on any social network. This measure is similar to that of Texas, USAwhile in the state of Florida the minimum age is 14. In the case of New York, two laws were approved: one to require parental consent for minors under 18 years of age to use “addictive threads” based on recommendation algorithms and another to limit the collection of data from minors.