Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has officially decided to pull the plug on social media for tweens. In a move that’s been brewing since September, Albanese has announced that the government will be introducing legislation to ban social media for all children under 16.
In a press conference on Thursday, Albanese didn’t mince words: “Social media is causing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it.
“I want parents to be able to say, ‘Sorry, mate, it’s against the law’.”
The federal cabinet has settled on 16 as the magic number, which is notably even stricter than South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas‘ proposed state-based law that planned to block kids under 14.
Albanese acknowledged the time it will take for these laws to have their intended impact.
“We don’t argue that the changes that we will be legislating will fix everything immediately,” he explained.
“We have laws, such as people can’t buy alcohol if they’re under 18, and from time to time that can be broken, but those laws set the parameters for our society and they assist in ensuring the right outcomes.”
How will Anthony Albanese’s proposed social media ban work?
The nitty-gritty of how this will actually work is still a bit fuzzy, but the gist is that social media companies will be responsible for keeping the youngsters out. There is no word yet on how this will be regulated or what will be the punishment.
“This is world-leading legislation and we want to make sure we’ve got it right,” Albanese said.
“We think there will be some, of course, exclusions and exemptions as well for this, to make sure that there aren’t unintended consequences — but we think this is absolutely the right thing.”
When Albanese announced his plans earlier this year in September he mentioned that the laws will cover not only social media apps, but “other digital platforms” as well.
This could mean that the ban will not only impact platforms, like Facebook or Instagram, but could also include things like YouTube or Roblox.
What happens now?
Again, nothing has been set in stone yet and Albanese will take the plan to a special national cabinet meeting tomorrow where Australian states and territories will be asked whether they support the policy.
The proposed legislation is likely to go forth next year.
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