Australia’s upcoming Social media ban Online forum Reddit and livestreaming platform Kik are among seven other well-known sites aimed at children under 16, according to the country’s online safety commissioner.
The social media ban will come into effect on December 10 and will restrict access to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube, Communications Minister Anika Wells said on Wednesday.
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“Online platforms use technology to target kids with chilling controls. We’re just asking for the same technology to be used to keep kids safe online,” Wells said.
“We’ve met on a number of social media platforms over the last month to make sure they understand there’s no excuse for failing to enforce this law,” Wells told reporters in Canberra.
“We want children to have a childhood and we want parents to have peace of mind,” she said.
It has taken 12 months to prepare for the ban on social media platforms Australia passed its milestone Online Security Act in November last year.
Initial discussions focused primarily on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X, and YouTube, but the list was later expanded, and Wells said the list could continue to change.
More than 140 Australian and international academics signed an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year opposing the age limit ban as a “blunt” tool. Canberra move It is being closely monitored by countries that express concern about the effects of online platforms on children.
“Delaying children’s access to social media accounts gives them valuable time to learn and grow, freeing them from the powerful, unseen forces of harmful and deceptive design features like opaque algorithms and endless scrolling,” said eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.
Inman Grant said she will work with academics to assess the impact of the ban, including whether restrictions on social media use make children sleep or communicate more or become more physically active.
“We will also look at unintended consequences, and we will gather evidence” so others can learn from Australia’s ban, Inman Grant said.
Critics have questioned how the restrictions will be enforced because users cannot be “forced” to submit a government ID for age verification, according to a government fact sheet.
The platform is still discussing how to comply with the new rules, the commissioner said, adding that failure to comply could result in civil penalties of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (US$32.1m).
TikTok investigates youth’s suicide
News that Australia will add more names to the list of banned platforms comes as French authorities say they have launched an investigation into the risk social media platform TikTok and its algorithms could push young people to commit suicide.
Paris lawyer Laure Bacue said the inquiry was in response to a request by a parliamentary committee to open a criminal investigation into TikTok’s potential responsibility for endangering the lives of young users.
Becuo said the committee’s report cited “TikTok’s lack of moderation, ease of access by minors, and its sophisticated algorithms, which can quickly trap vulnerable individuals in a loop of dedicated content and push them to suicide.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Paris police cybercrime unit will investigate the crime of providing a platform for “propaganda in favor of products, objects or methods recommended as means of suicide”, which carries a three-year prison sentence.
The unit will also consider the crime of enabling “illegal transactions by an organized gang”, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a 1 million euro ($1.2m) fine.
TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, with more than 1.5 billion users worldwide, has come under fire from governments in Europe and the United States in recent years.
Concerns expressed on the platform include content promoting suicide, self-harm or disturbing body image, as well as its potential use for foreign political intervention.
A TikTok spokesperson told French news agency AFP in September that the company “clearly rejects the deceptive presentation” of French lawmakers and said it was being made a “scapegoat” for broader social problems.