Australia intends to explain to Elon Musk the text approved Thursday by Parliament on the ban on social networks for under 16s. This Sunday, the Prime Minister said he was ready to discuss this subject with the owner of the X platform.
“We will talk to anyone,” said Anthony Albanese, asked by the Australian channel ABC about the possibility of discussions with the billionaire. “As far as Elon Musk is concerned, he has his agenda. He has the right to push it as the owner of […] We will engage in dialogue,” added the Prime Minister during this interview.
Terms of application still to be defined
The text will require platforms such as X, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook to take “reasonable measures” to prevent children and young adolescents from having an account, within at least one year, under penalty of a fine.
But the law provides almost no details on how it will be implemented, so much so that some experts have expressed doubts about the technical feasibility of this ban. The giants of the sector have condemned the text, pointing out the risk that it will send young users to dangerous alternative platforms.
Anthony Albanese for his part affirmed this Sunday that his government would decide in the next 12 months on the conditions for verifying the age of users while specifying that an identity document would not be necessary.
The threat of very large fines
“We know that social media companies have more information about you and me than our own friends […] We know that they are capable of doing it,” judged the head of government. In November, Elon Musk argued on X that the bill aimed to “control access to the Internet for all Australians”.
In the event of non-compliance with the obligation, the platforms will be exposed to fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (30.8 million euros).
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