Children under the age of 16 would be banned from social media under a federal opposition plan to crack down on tech giants.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he would use age verification technologies to raise the minimum age for social media platforms from 13 to 16 within the first 100 days of a coalition government.
Sites such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok had fuelled cyberbullying, body image issues and mental health concerns and Mr Dutton said they were profiting at the expense of young Australians.
"Social media companies have let Australian families down," he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
"The age limit of 13 is clearly too young in the first place and, secondly, they don't enforce it.
"This is one of those issues where we can try and help protect kids online, try and help families and parents have the tools they need."
Any companies that do not comply will be penalised under the opposition's proposal.
Mr Dutton has not detailed what tools the coalition would use to prevent children from accessing websites.
Many age gates can be easily bypassed through virtual private networks or by lying about a person's age when creating an account.
The opposition leader has rejected claims age verification is not possible.
Facebook, for example, restricts those who repeatedly enter different birthdays into the age screen and also compares birthdays across accounts for other apps owned by Meta.
Mr Dutton said this was an issue that should be approached on a bipartisan basis.
"We'd be really happy to work with the prime minister and the government ... and send a very clear message that both sides of parliament stand united against the scourge of social media," he said.
The Labor government has invested $6.5 million to trial age assurance technologies that would reduce children's exposure to inappropriate material.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says social media is a concern but has emphasised bans must be effective.
"The reason we're doing the trial is that social media is having a negative impact on young people," he told reporters in Adelaide.
"A ban, if it can be effective, is a good way to go on."
Mr Dutton's proposal comes after the eSafety Commissioner announced she would discontinue legal proceedings aimed at forcing X, formerly Twitter, to take down graphic videos of a church stabbing in western Sydney.
The coalition has repeatedly called for age verification to prevent children from accessing pornography sites and online betting platforms.
A 2020 house committee report noted age verification was not "a silver bullet", but could provide a barrier to prevent young people from accessing age-restricted content.
