By -

The Federal government's Bill that restricts children under 16 from using social media has passed Parliament with broad support from both Labor and the Coalition, despite opposition from other quarters.

The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 requires social media platforms to “take reasonable steps to prevent age-restricted users from having accounts with the age-restricted social media platform.”

In a media release, Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland congratulated Parliament for passing a “landmark measure that will deliver greater protections for young Australians during critical stages of their development”.

Platforms that will be affected by this ban include Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Messaging applications, online gaming, and social media platforms used primarily for educational and health support are exempt from these restrictions.

Platforms found to have breached the ban or are suspected of misuse of personal information collected to restrict users’ ages can face fines of up to $49.5 million.

“The Albanese Government is resolute in its commitment to keeping children safe online, and the passage of this vital legislation is just one way we’re delivering on this commitment,” said Rowland.

“We’ve listened to young people, parents and carers, experts and industry in developing these landmark laws to ensure they are centred on protecting young people – not isolating them”.

Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns welcomed the social media ban, noting studies proved a link between social media use and mental health issues, sleep loss and less social skill practice.

“The parents I speak to, and certainly the evidence acknowledges that social media is doing an enormous amount of harm to young people,” Minns said.

“By making this law, at the very least we empower parents to be able to say no to their kids when it comes to social media because it’s now against the law. It also means kids can focus on being kids, talking to each other face to face, spending time outdoors and not fixated on their screens.”

The Bill passed with an overwhelming majority of 101 votes for and only 13 against. Amongst them, all four Greens members vehemently opposed it. “Young people will be pushed to darker spaces on the web, and regional, marginalised and vulnerable kids will be further isolated,” said Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens Senator for South Australia.

Other experts and activists have shown reservations or opposition to the proposed Bill. Michael Dezuanni, a Professor at the Queensland University of Technology and chief investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, posted a reaction to the Bill’s passing on LinkedIn.

“Blunt populism triumphs over evidence, complexity, nuance and debate with the passing of this absurd legislation that will make a lot of adults feel better but do nothing to address the actual problems with social media”.

The new law will take effect within the next 12 months, allowing social media platforms time to implement the new system.