TikTok said on Friday it was “disappointed” by an Australian law that would ban the use of the social network by those under the age of 16. At the same time, TikTok warned that young people may go to more dangerous parts of the Internet as a result of the decision, TASR reports, according to an AFP report.
The government failed to listen to expert advice, a TikTok spokesperson said, adding that it was “quite likely that a ban could push young people into dark corners of the internet where there are no community policies, safety tools or protection.” The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also agreed with this statement, warning that the law is not the answer to the dangers in the online space.
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. Based on it, social networks such as Facebook, Instagram or X will be forced to take measures to ensure the protection of age verification of their users. For systemic 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. But a YouGov poll released on Tuesday showed 77 percent of Australians support the ban.
