Australia promises to set minimum age for social media

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Australia’s prime minister announced Tuesday he will introduce a ban on children using social media, with the minimum age being 16. The prime minister promised that children would unplug from their devices and “go to the football pitches.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced that federal legislation aimed at preventing children from using social media will be introduced this year, describing the sites’ influence on young people as a “plague”.

The minimum age at which children will be able to log into sites like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok has not yet been set, Albanese said, but is expected to be between 14 and 16.

The centre-left leader said an age verification test would be carried out in the coming months and then a relevant law would be introduced by the end of the year.

“I wish kids would unplug from their devices and go to soccer fields, swimming pools and tennis courts,” Albanese said.

“We want them to have real experiences with real people because we know that social media causes social harm,” he told national television station ABC.

In a series of media interviews about the plan, Albanese said he would prefer to block access to content on social media for children under 16.

DJW/MCA