Key facts
- Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wants to strengthen the country's social media ban for under-16s.
- A recent study indicates the ban has had minimal impact on teen social media usage.
- The government plans to test the law's resilience against legal challenges.
- The eSafety Commission is preparing legal action against platforms that fail to uphold the ban.
- Reddit has initiated a High Court challenge against the legislation.
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has indicated a desire to bolster the enforcement of the nation's social media ban for individuals under 16, following findings that the six-month-old measure has had little effect on teen usage. The government intends to rigorously test the law to ensure its legal defensibility.
Albanese stated that a primary focus would be empowering the eSafety Commission, the country's internet regulator, to effectively implement the ban. While specific details on the government's planned actions were not provided, the regulator declined to comment.
Australia's pioneering approach is being closely observed globally, with other nations considering similar measures due to concerns about youth mental and physical health. Britain, for instance, has announced more extensive restrictions affecting gaming and live-streaming platforms.
The eSafety Commission and Communications Minister Anika Wells are reportedly preparing legal action against several platforms. Companies found to have systematically failed to uphold the ban could face a maximum fine of A$49.5 million.
Reddit has initiated a challenge in the High Court against the ban, with preliminary hearings underway. The platform was not immediately available for comment.
Initial reports upon the ban's implementation in December suggested it had led to the shutdown of millions of accounts. However, subsequent parental accounts and studies indicate that teen social media use has remained largely unchanged. A paper published in the British Medical Journal this week found that 85% of Australians aged 12 to 15 were still using social media three months after the ban took effect. The study of 408 adolescents revealed that two-thirds of underage users continued to access platforms by self-declaring an age over 16 or by having their age verified through a selfie. The paper concluded that despite the ban's intention to delay access and reduce online harms, there was little evidence of immediate, substantial reductions in reported adolescent social media use.