Bill Shorten says social media giants can’t ‘buck pass’ responsibility as age limit debate flares

Labor minister Bill Shorten has likened the campaign to ban social media for children under 16 to past efforts to stop child labour and introduce mandatory seatbelts, as the Federal Government stares down push back to its world-first plan.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is convening National Cabinet on Friday to secure support for a uniform ban across all States and Territories.

Under the proposal signed off by Mr Albanese’s cabinet, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, X, and even YouTube will have to take “reasonable steps” to ensure young users are not on their platforms — even if they have parental permission.

The social media companies would face penalties if they do not comply.

Experts are already warning the ban will not work with predictions tech-savvy teenagers will find ways to circumvent any age limits.

Meta – the parent company for Facebook and Instagram – wants responsibility for policing age verification to rest with app stores, rather than individual platforms such as theirs.

“If every single app is required to implement its own age appropriate controls, then the burden really is going to fall on young people and parents for each of the different apps that a young person wants to use,” Meta’s Australia and New Zealand Policy direction Mia Garlick told ABC’s RN Breakfast.

“At the moment, when you get a new phone or a new device, you do spend a bit of time sitting down as a family, setting it all up, and age information is collected at that time.

“And so there is a really simple solution there, that at that one point in time, then the verification can occur.”

Mr Shorten said the tech giants had the tools to enforce the age limit and should not be able shirk their responsibilities.

“I’m a student of history, we had to argue to protect our kids from working in coal mines and factories,” he told RN Breakfast.

“And those factory owners said that would be the end of them. When we first proposed to having mandatory seat belts to protect people, our car companies said that would just be the end of it.

“And well, you know what? It’s not. And we don’t ask civilians and car users to bring their own seat belt to a car. So, why should social media companies buck past their own duty of care?”

Shadow communications minister David Coleman said the Opposition supported setting the age limit at 16 as he urged the Government to rule out exempting any platforms from the proposed regime..

“If there is wriggle room in the laws, the social media platforms will fully exploit it. Providing exemptions will only weaken the laws that are desperately needed to protect young Australians from the harms of social media,” he said.