Image: © Askar/Stock.adobe.com
The Social Media Minimum Age bill was passed yesterday (28 November) by the Australian government and is expected to take effect in late 2025.
Meta has criticised the Australian government’s decision to approve a bill which sets out to ban under-16s from using social media sites.
The social media giant, which is the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has clapped back at the Australian government following the passing of the Social Media Minimum Age Bill yesterday (28 November). From late 2025, Australians must be over the age of 16 to use social media.
Australia’s Senate passed the bill 34 votes to 19, while its House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the legislation 102 votes to 13 yesterday.
As a result of the new bill, any social media platforms which have breached the bill could be punished with fines of up to A$49.5m. It should be noted however that the Australian government did not specifically outline how it expects social media platforms to enforce age limits.
Commenting on the passage of the bill, a spokesperson for Meta told SiliconRepublic.com that while the company respect the laws decided by the Australian Parliament, they emphasised: “We are concerned about the process which rushed the legislation through while failing to properly consider the evidence, what [the] industry already does to ensure age-appropriate experiences, and the voices of young people.
“Last week, the Parliament’s own committee said the ‘causal link with social media appears unclear,’ with respect to the mental health of young Australians, whereas this week the rushed Senate Committee report pronounced that social media caused harm. This demonstrates the lack of evidence underpinning the legislation and suggests this was a predetermined process.”
The spokesperson added: “The task now turns to ensuring there is productive consultation on all rules associated with the bill to ensure a technically feasible outcome that does not place an onerous burden on parents and teens and a commitment that rules will be consistently applied across all social apps used by teens.”
They suggested that one option to protect children and teenagers from harm online is age verification at the operating system and app store level, which according to them, “reduces the burden and minimises the amount of sensitive information shared”.
Other popular social media sites, such as Snap and TikTok, similarly expressed concern over the passage of the bill, with the latter site saying that it was “disappointed” by the new law, according to DW.
Alphabet-owned Google has also urged lawmakers to delay the bill until the impact of it can be assessed.
In addition, the government previously received criticism from X owner, billionaire Elon Musk.
The entrepreneur, who is also the world’s richest man, said in a post on X: “Seems like a backdoor way to control access to the internet by all Australians.”
Motivation for implementing the ban
The Australian government clarified that the bill and its associated rules will ensure that young Australians have continued access to messaging and online gaming, as well as access to services which are health and education-related, such as Headspace, Kids Helpline, Google Classroom and YouTube.
The government added that the bill will require social media platforms “to take reasonable steps” to prevent under-16s from having accounts.
Specifically, Michelle Rowland MP, the country’s minister for communications, said that sites and applications such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram were among the platforms that could face repercussions for any breaches to this bill.
Rowland also said that social media platforms have “a responsibility to provide safe products and look after the mental health of young Australians”.
Australia’s banning of underaged users from social media is the latest instance of governments acting against social media platforms in the name of children’s wellbeing.
Earlier this year, it was announced that New York City had filed a major lawsuit against several social media companies to hold them accountable for their alleged “damaging influence” on the mental health of children.
The companies listed as defendants in the lawsuit are Meta, TikTok-owner Bytedance, Snap, Google and YouTube, while plaintiffs were listed as New York City’s school district and its health and hospitals corporation.
And just last month, both the US and UK governments issued a joint statement announcing a children’s online safety working group aimed at making the internet safer for minors, while also advocating for increased transparency from online platforms.
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