Social networks will have to take measures to ensure the protection of age verification.
Australian parliamentarians on Thursday finally approved the ban on the use of social networks for people under the age of 16. According to the AFP agency, this is one of the toughest restrictions for platforms like Facebook, Instagram or X in the world, reports TASR.
The bill was approved by the Senate of the Australian Parliament on Thursday, with the support of the government and the majority of opposition MPs. It was adopted by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Companies face fines
Based on the new law, social networks will be forced to take measures to ensure the protection of age verification of their users. For system violations, companies operating social networks would face fines of up to 49 million Australian dollars (roughly 30.2 million euros). They will have one year to implement these measures.
The Australian Human Rights Commission is concerned the law could harm children’s rights to self-expression. A YouGov poll released on Tuesday showed 77 per cent of Australians support the ban.
Bytedance, which runs the TikTok platform, said the law required more consultation. The owner of the social network X, Elon Musk, claims that the legislation may harm the human rights of children.
