Australia plans to ban social media access for children under 16 years old.

Currently, Australia is testing a system to verify the age of social media users. At a press conference, the Prime Minister noted that excessive use of social media is harmful to children. He pointed out the risks to both mental and physical health, particularly emphasizing issues related to unrealistic portrayals of female bodies that negatively affect girls, as well as the spread of misogynistic content aimed at boys.

The bill does not provide exceptions for teenagers who already have social media accounts, even with parental consent. Platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, X, and TikTok will be subject to these restrictions. Australia's Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, added that YouTube is also likely to be included under the law.

The Digital Industry Group, which represents companies like Meta, TikTok, X, and Google, stated that such a measure could push teenagers to use unregulated parts of the internet. “Banning access for teenagers to digital platforms is a 20th-century response to 21st-century challenges,” emphasized the group's CEO, Sunita Bose. Representatives from X, Instagram, and Facebook did not respond to Reuters' requests for comments, while TikTok declined to comment.

This bill is one of the strictest initiatives regarding social media access restrictions in the world. It proposes the use of biometrics or government identification for age verification, which has not been implemented in any jurisdiction before.

Other countries also have age restrictions in place. In the United States, there is a prohibition on collecting data from children under 13, which has prompted social media platforms to implement age restrictions for registration. Last year, France proposed banning registration on social networks for children under 15 without parental consent.

In Russia, in November 2024, the president of the Association of Entrepreneurs for Business Patriotism, Rakhman Yansukov, proposed banning access to social media for children under 14. However, this initiative was not supported in the State Duma.