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Labor’s ban on children under 16 accessing social media has passed into law, but many questions remain.
The federal government’s controversial legislation to ban children under the age of 16 from social media platforms passed the senate last night at about 10pm as just one of more than 30 bills pushed through the senate on its last sitting day for 2024.
The laws won’t come into effect for a full year, and trials are currently underway to work out the best way to enact the ban, but the bill’s passing saw considerable and sometimes rancorous debate.
“This is boomers trying to tell young people how the internet should work,” Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
Senator Jacqui Lambie was similarly critical of the bill, saying “Some people thought it was a good idea until we looked at the detail, and let’s be honest, there’s no detail”.
This lack of detail includes how age verification will work and what personal data that verification will be based on. Despite these concerns and more, Sunita Bose, managing director of the Digital Industry Group, said DIGI was still willing to work with the government to explore the answers to the many questions that remain unanswered regarding the legislation.
“The social media ban legislation has been released and passed within a week and, as a result, no one can confidently explain how it will work in practice – the community and platforms are in the dark about what exactly is required of them,” Bose said.
“This law has passed despite advice from Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner, the Children’s Commissioner, the Privacy Commissioner, 100 youth experts in an open letter to the Prime Minister and a coalition of mental health organisations. The consultation process must be robust in addressing their concerns.
“As DIGI and our members work to understand their compliance obligations under the law, we’ll work constructively with the Government throughout the implementation period.”
Last night’s sitting also saw the passage of the Privacy Act Amendment’s Children’s Online Privacy Code, which introduces a statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy alongside an expansion of the investigative powers of the Australian Information Commissioner.
The bill also allows for the development of a Children's Online Privacy Code, and a requirement that privacy policies contain information about automated decision-making systems that might impact an individual’s rights.
“These new powers and functions come at a critical time, as privacy harms increase and the Australian community demands more power over their personal information,” Carly Kind, the Australian Privacy Commissioner, said in a statement on LinkedIn.
DIGI’s Sunita Bose was far more accepting of these new laws.
“DIGI welcomes the passage of laws tonight that will enable a Children’s Online Privacy Code, which will help level up children and young people’s privacy on a wide range of services,” Bose said.
“DIGI’s members provide privacy safeguards for minors, such as parental controls and strict privacy settings, and this law is an important step in encouraging protections on a wider range of services.”
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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