Australia passes law banning social media for under-16s, a world first

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Australian lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill that imposes legal restrictions on the use of social networks by those under 16.

The text will force platforms to take “reasonable measures” to ensure that young Australians under the age of 16 cannot create an account, under penalty of being exposed to fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (30.7 million euros).

The bill benefited frombipartisan support in a vote in the Australian Senate on Thursday, which passed it overwhelmingly by 34 votes to 19.

The text had already been voted on by the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament, on Wednesday, with 102 deputies having voted in favor of the measure against 13 who opposed it.

After the Senate vote, members of the House of Representatives can now approve possible amendments before the law officially comes into force.

Is this law applicable in practice?

Before the vote, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused social media of being “a platform for social pressure, a source of anxiety, a channel for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators“.

A strong supporter of this bill, he hopes it will encourage young Australians to “put down their phones and instead meet up on the football pitches, cricket pitches, tennis courts, volleyball fields or the swimming pool”.

Several platforms, on the other hand, have described the text as “rushed”, “unclear” and “problematic”.

Until the law comes into force, in about a year, Australian regulators will look into how the text will be implemented, with the draft approved Thursday providing few concrete details on this subject.

Several experts have also expressed doubts about the feasibility of the legislation, saying it could prove more “symbolic” than actually effective.

Legislation closely followed abroad

In September, The World Health Organization has warned of increasingly “problematic” use of networks among young Europeansmany of them displaying symptoms of addiction.

Faced with this worrying situation, several European countries have implemented measures to limit access to social networksor are considering doing so.

Last June, Spain presented a bill prohibiting the creation of an account by young people under the age of 16, but it faces complex implementation.

France also voted in June 2023 for a law establishing a “digital majority” at 15 years of age, but the latter is still awaiting a response from the European Commission which must determine the conformity of the text with EU law. .

In theory, access to social networks is not authorized for French people under 13 years old. But according to the French National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties (CNIL), more than half of young people between 10 and 14 years old have at least one account, with users registering for the first time around 8 and a half years old on average. .