Melbourne, Australia

The House of Representatives in Australia on Wednesday (Nov 27) cleared the bill which bans children, below the age of 16, from accessing social media platforms. 

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The first-of-its-kind legislation has now been left to the Senate to be made into a law.

The bill, which makes social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of nearly 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) if a systemic failure is found on their side in preventing young children from creating accounts on these platforms, was supported by major parties. 

The legislation was passed by 102 to 13 votes. If the bill turns into a law, one year would be given to the platforms to make a plan on how they will implement the age restrictions before any kind of penalties are enforced on them.

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Speaking in the Parliament, Opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan said that the government had decided to include the amendments in the Senate which will bolster privacy protections. 

The platforms will not be permitted to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents which include driver’s licenses or passports. 

Also Read: Social media platforms ask Australia to delay its ban on children below 16 by one year

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The platforms will also not be able to ask for digital identification through a government system.

“Will it be perfect? No. But is any law perfect? No, it’s not. But if it helps, even if it helps in just the smallest of ways, it will make a huge difference to people’s lives,” Tehan said while speaking in the Parliament.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said that the bill will be debated in the Senate later on Wednesday (Nov 27).

Here's what critiques say about the bill

As per the critiques, the lawmakers have rushed the decision through Parliament without adequate scrutiny. They said that the bill can create privacy risks for users of all ages and will take away the authority of the parents to decide what is best for their children.

It has also been argued by critics that the ban would isolate children and they would be deprived of social media's positive aspects and will push them to the dark web.

They added that the children will become reluctant to report the harms of social media. Meanwhile, independent lawmaker Zoe Daniel said the legislation would “make zero difference to the harms that are inherent to social media.”

“The true object of this legislation is not to make social media safe by design, but to make parents and voters feel like the government is doing something about it,” Daniel said while speaking at the Parliament.

Watch: Australia Tables Bill to Ban Social Media for Kids Under 16

“There is a reason why the government parades this legislation as world-leading, that’s because no other country wants to do it,” she further said.

LinkedIn says its 'too dull for kids'

Social media platforms had appealed to Australia to delay the voting on the legislation by at least a year.

Meanwhile, career-networking site LinkedIn said to the Australian lawmakers their platform is too boring for kids to warrant its inclusion.

"LinkedIn simply does not have content interesting and appealing to minors," said the Microsoft-owned company, in its submission to the Australian Senate committee.

(With inputs from agencies)