News Mania Desk/ Piyal Chatterjee / 10th September 2024
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on social media on Monday that his government wants to impose an age limitation on using social media sites like Instagram and TikTok. He claimed that this measure was intended to lower the hazards that youngsters face when using the internet.
According to Mr. Albanese, the government is currently thinking of imposing a minimum age on minors as young as sixteen, he told the national radio on Tuesday. An alternative would be to impose the age restriction somewhat lower, maybe at 14 years old.
He went on to say that the government will test age-verification technology and present laws later this year.
Australia would be among the first countries to prohibit young children from using social media if such a law were to be passed. Florida banned children under the age of 14 from using social media earlier this year. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are all owned by Meta, and other social media companies normally require users to be at least 13 to sign up. However, by using a fake date of birth, millions of minors have been able to register accounts for these services.
There is strong political support in Australia for age restrictions on social media use; early this year, the country’s main opposition party declared its desire to limit social media use to those who are 16 years of age and older. However, several experts claimed that these suggested limitations could backfire.
According to Toby Murray, an associate professor of computing and information systems at the University of Melbourne, young teenagers frequently find a peer network on social media platforms. According to him, denying them that outlet could potentially prevent young people from marginalized groups from connecting with those who are similar to them.
A request for comment from TikTok was not immediately answered, while Meta declined to comment.
Australia implemented novel laws on internet businesses in 2021, compelling companies such as Google and Facebook to enter into license deals with news publishers.
