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The government’s controversial social media ban bill for under-16s has passed through the House of Representatives, leaving the decision of it becoming law in the hands of the Senate.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the social media ban on 7 November, announcing that sign-ups to platforms like X, Facebook, and Instagram would require users to be over 16.
The government has pushed for the legislation, which will be the first of its kind anywhere in the world, to be passed into law by the end of the year despite criticism that it is rushed, unenforceable and full of flaws.
Now, the legislation has made its way successfully through the lower house.
If the bill passes the Senate and becomes law, the onus of enforcing the age restriction would be on social media platforms. Under-16s who use social media will not be punished, but social media platforms will face fines.
The government originally said that sign-ups to social media platforms would be monitored through age-verification software it intended to trial, which would use biometric data and government IDs. However, this raised immediate privacy concerns regarding the collection and use of the data by social media platforms.
Yesterday (26 November), Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland announced amendments to the bill that would prevent social media platforms from compelling users to provide government-issued IDs, such as driver’s licenses and passports, as well as requesting digital ID through the government.
Coalition MP Dan Tehan announced in Parliament that the government had accepted the amendments in the Senate.
“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,” he said.
If the legislation passes, social media platforms will have 12 months to implement the restrictions before they becomes enforced.
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