Australia will ban access for under-16s to a number of popular platforms and websitesincluding Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, starting December 10th.
North American technology giant Meta announced this Thursday that it has begun deleting the accounts of Australians under the age of 16 on Instagram, Threads and Facebook, before coming into effect .
“We are working to remove all accounts of users we believe are under the age of 16 by December 10, but compliance with the law will be an ongoing, multi-step process,” a company spokesperson said.
Australia will ban access for under-16s to a number of popular platforms and websitesincluding Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, starting December 10th.
This unprecedented measure will be closely followed around the world, while national regulators deal with the potential harmful effects of social media on young people.
YouTube: under 16s will be automatically banned
The video streaming platform YouTube had on Wednesday classified the imminent ban on the use of social networks by children under 16 in Australia as premature.
“Most importantly, this law will not deliver on its promise to make children safer online and will actually make Australian children less safe on YouTube,” the US company said in a statement.
The website, one of the most visited in the world, could have been exempt from the measure to allow children to watch educational videos.
But the government abandoned the idea in July, arguing that young people need to be protected from “predatory algorithms”.
YouTube confirmed that all your users under 16 will be automatically banned on December 10th.
Hundreds of thousands of teenagers will be affected, with Instagram alone having approximately 350,000 Australian users aged between 13 and 15.
List may grow
Other applications and ‘sites’ such as Roblox, Pinterest and WhatsApp are currently exempt, but this list may change.
According to Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells, “this specific law will not solve all internet-related problems, but it will make it easier for children to become better versions of themselves.”
The Australian Government recognized that the ban will be far from perfect initially and that some underage users will be able to bypass the system until it is improved.
Companies that do not comply with the standards will be subject to fines of up to 32 million dollars (27.4 million euros, at the current exchange rate) if they do not demonstrate “reasonable progress” towards compliance. However, this concept has not been clearly explained by authorities.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described social media as “a platform for social pressure, a source of anxiety, a tool for scammers and, even worse, online predators”.
