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The Australian government will be presented with legislation proposing an age limit on access to social media and “other relevant digital platforms”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has publicly backed limiting social media use in Australia to those aged 16 and older.
The PM outlined his views in an interview on Sydney’s popular Fitzy and Wippa with Kate Ritchie radio show the same day his government made the news official. However, the official announcement did not specify an age.
“One of the things that we wanted to do is to make sure that when I had the discussion at national cabinet last week with all the premiers and chief ministers, that we don’t end up having eight different systems,” PM Albanese said when asked if the limit could be set at 16.
“So, the right age is between 14 and 16. I have a personal view. I err on the side of a higher limit.”
When pressed again about the age limit being set at 16 years old, PM Albanese confirmed his thinking.
“That’s where I’m at,” PM Albanese said, explaining again it was important to avoid establishing several sets of competing regulations.
“We want a national approach to an issue, which is a national issue. So, that’s one of the reasons why we’ve got out there and made this announcement, perhaps earlier than we would have. We were going to wait for the trial and then make an announcement. But we wanted to make it clear where we were headed, that we will have legislation by the end of the year.”
The government is working on testing several different proof-of-age solutions and the validity of implementation.
Michelle Rowland, Minister for Communications, said that as a parent, she understands the worry about social impacts on children.
“I fully understand concerns around harmful online environments and addictive social media behaviour of children,” Minister Rowland said in a 10 September statement.
“Parents want real solutions, and we are taking decisive action to identify and implement these very solutions to help ensure young people can use the internet in a safe and positive way that supports their learning and their lives.
“We are also holding big tech to account because platforms and online services have a key responsibility for the safety of their users.
“We will continue to engage experts, young people, advocates and parents through the age assurance trial, which is an important aspect of this journey.”
Carly Dober, director of the Australian Association of Psychologists, responded to the government’s proposed legislation, saying that it ignores the real problem with social media.
“Raising the age alone is a distraction from the real issues at hand. There is not enough work being done on misinformation and disinformation that young people can access, and there is not enough work being done on regulating hate speech and bullying on various social media platforms,” Dober said, as reported by The Guardian.
“Increased action and legislation are needed to ensure that deepfake/AI-manipulated content is banned and those bans enforced. The platforms themselves and the experience on the platforms themselves would remain unchanged if the government relies solely on age limit bans.”
UPDATED 10/09/24 to add AAPi commentary.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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