Australia will set the age at 16 at which minors will be able to access social networks, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday, who pledged to crack down on technology firms that do not protect young users.
“It’s (a measure) for moms and dads. Social networks do a lot of harm to children and I have decided to put an end to it,” he told journalists.
Anthony Albanese announced a project in this direction in September, but the minimum age had not yet been decided. The Labor leader said the measure would be presented to Australian state and territory leaders this week, before being submitted to Parliament at the end of November.
Tech companies and social networks will have the responsibility to ensure that users are of the required age – under penalty of fines –, underlined Anthony Albanese, rather than parents who “are worried for the safety of their children online.
“The responsibility will not fall on parents or young people. There will be no sanctions for users,” he said.
An earlier proposal to introduce an age limit for social media had received widespread support across Australia’s political spectrum.
The platforms will benefit from a period of one year to prepare the implementation of this measure. Experts, however, have cast doubt on the technical feasibility of applying such a measure.
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