Major technology companies have commented that the Australian government has 'rushed' to pass a law banning children under the age of 16 from social media. They have responded that it has been moved unnaturally fast in the parliamentary process.
Australia just passed a law banning children from social media platforms on Thursday. This law has forced social media companies from Instagram and Facebook to Tiktok to block children's access to these platforms. If this is not done, the company may have to pay a fine of up to 50 million Australian dollars (about 4.3 billion rupees).
Tiktok, which is especially popular among the teenage generation, has given a response to Reuters that the Australian government's arrangement risks leading young people to the insecure dark webs of the Internet. "The Australian government must work closely with social media companies to resolve the issues created by this hasty process," TikTok said in a statement.
Tiktok has also stated that it is ready to work with the government for the safety of teenagers and reduce the unexpected challenges that this law may lead to. Australia warned big tech companies months ago about drafting this law to ban children from social media. The ban was announced in early 2024 after a parliamentary hearing heard the experiences of parents of children who had self-harmed due to cyberbullying.
The proposed bill was easily passed after the opposition parties supported Australia's seven-seventh Labor Party . This bill was registered in Parliament only last Thursday and sent to various committees for discussion. The time limit for the committees to register amendment proposals within 24 hours was . A week later, it was included in the 31 bills passed on the last day of Parliament for this year last Thursday.
meta has criticized the government by pointing out that it is a 'pre-determined process' and expressing the intention of completing the parliamentary process only as a formality . "Last week, the parliamentary committee said that the direct relationship of social media to the mental health of Australian youth is not clear," Meta wrote in his statement, "but now the hastily prepared Senate committee report claims that social media has caused harm."
Snapchat's parent company Snap has also commented that this law has left many questions unanswered. Referring to the impact of excessive use of social media on children's physical and mental health, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pointed out that there is a risk of harmful physical depictions, especially anti-women content, having a greater impact on children.
This law has made social media platforms responsible for law enforcement instead of children and parents. Prime Minister Albanese has made it clear that there is no exception for children who use social media with parental consent. Although the implementation process of this law will not start in January, it will be fully implemented only from November 2025.
Many countries in the world, like Australia, have been expressing restrictions on implementing legal measures to ban children from social media . France proposed a ban for children under 15 last year. But there was a provision that could be used with the permission of the parents . In the United States, decades ago, children under the age of 13 were forced to have their There is a provision that social media companies can give access to the platform only with parental consent.
