Social media age limit Bill introduced to Parliament by Albanese Government

Laws to ban under-16s from social media have been unveiled in Parliament with the Government promising they will keep teens off TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, Instagram and X at a minimum.

The legislation creates an obligation for social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent users under 16 years from having an account.

If they don’t, the tech companies face fines of up to $50 million.

Introducing the Bill to Parliament on Thursday, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said there were also strong privacy protections to make sure that platforms don’t use data collected for age assurance purposes for any other use.

There will be exemptions for messaging services, online games and other services which are primarily for health and education support.

“A key principle of the approach to applying an age limit of 16 to social media was the recognition that our laws should be set to protect young people, not isolate them,” Ms Rowland said.

“There is a legitimate purpose to enabling young people to actively participate in the digital environment where they have grown up, supporting their digital participation.”

The minimum age will come into place 12 months after the legislation passes and be reviewed two years later.

The Coalition has indicated support for the ban, with shadow communications minister David Coleman describing harm from social media as the defining issued of our era.

“Parents lie awake at night worrying about what their kids are being exposed to on Snapchat or Tiktok or Instagram, and they are right to worry,” he said.

“Snapchat has brought despair to many Australian families and sometimes tragedy.”

He said the legislation should pass before Parliament rises next week, promising the Opposition would negotiate in good faith including on how to ensure social media companies “start right now to implement these laws”.

But the Greens and independent Kylea Tink warned rushing the world-leading laws through without adequate scrutiny could end in disaster.

Greens communications spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said the duty of care should be the priority, not a blanket ban.

“If the Government can rush these laws through, why can’t they implement the legislated duty of care they promised, or take measures that actually make platforms safer for everyone, like banning platforms from collecting, selling and exploiting Australians’ data?” she said.

“You don’t make platforms safer by just locking young people out.”