New Delhi: Social media cannot be used by under 16s in Australia. Such a decision has been taken in that country keeping in mind the future of the society. Australia passed a law on Thursday banning social media for children under 16. This is the first time any country in the world has banned the use of social media before a certain age. (Australia Social Media Ban)
Australia passed a law banning social media for under-16s on Thursday. There was a debate about this in the country for several days. There have been various opinions about the impact of social media use at a young age on the mental and overall health of children. Finally, social media was banned for under 16s in that country. (Social Media Ban for Children)
According to the new law, under the age of 16 cannot use microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, any social media platform in Australia. However, no such age criteria has been set for YouTube. All social media platforms are asked to enforce this rule. A period of one year has been fixed for it.
The law states that children under the age of 16 can be fined up to $33 million, which is about Rs 280 crore in Indian currency, if they fail to stop opening social media accounts. Under 16s will be removed from social media from January. Tech companies will have to complete that task within the next one year.
After that, the new law banning social media for under 16s will come into effect from November 2025. The Senate, the upper house of the Parliament, gave the seal to this law in the night session. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also received the support of the opposition. The House of Representatives had already passed the bill on Wednesday.
France and the US have previously moved to ban social media. Children are not allowed to use social media without parental permission. A court case has been filed against Florida’s ban on social media for children under 14. Freedom of speech is being shielded in this case. However, this is the first time a country has banned the use of social media by under-16s.
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