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Children under 16 can no longer access 10 of the world\u2019s biggest platforms, including Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Australia has banned children under 16 from social media in a world-first, as other countries consider similar age-based measures amid rising concerns over its effects on children\u2019s health and safety.<\/p>\n Under the new law, which came into effect at midnight local time on Wednesday (13:00 GMT on Tuesday), 10 of the biggest platforms face $33m in fines if they fail to purge Australia-based users younger than 16.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n The law has been criticised by major technology companies and free speech campaigners, but praised by parents and child advocates.<\/p>\n The Australian government says unprecedented measures are needed to protect children from \u201cpredatory algorithms\u201d filling phone screens with bullying, sex and violence.<\/p>\n \u201cToo often, social media isn\u2019t social at all,\u201d Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in advance of the ban.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead, it\u2019s used as a weapon for bullies, a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators.\u201d<\/p>\n The law states that Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat and Reddit are forbidden from creating or keeping accounts belonging to users in Australia under 16.<\/p>\n Streaming platforms Kick and Twitch are also on the government\u2019s blacklist, as are message boards Threads and X. Popular apps and websites such as Roblox, Pinterest and WhatsApp are currently exempt \u2013 but the government has stressed that the list remains under review.<\/p>\n Meta, YouTube and other social media giants have already condemned the ban.<\/p>\n YouTube, in particular, has attacked the law, describing it as \u201crushed\u201d and saying it would only push children into deeper, darker corners of the internet.<\/p>\n While most platforms have begrudgingly agreed to comply, for now, legal challenges are in the wind.<\/p>\n Online discussion site Reddit said Tuesday it could not confirm local media reports that said it would seek to overturn the ban in Australia\u2019s High Court.<\/p>\n The Sydney-based internet rights group Digital Freedom Project has already launched its own bid to have teenagers reinstated to social media.<\/p>\n Some parents, tired of seeing children stuck to their phones, see the ban as a relief.<\/p>\n Father-of-five Dany Elachi said the restrictions were a long-overdue \u201cline in the sand\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to err on the side of caution before putting anything addictive in the hands of children,\u201d he told the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n The Australian government concedes the ban will be far from perfect at the outset, and canny teenagers will find ways to circumvent it.<\/p>\n Social media companies bear the sole responsibility for checking users are 16 or older.<\/p>\n Some platforms say they will use AI tools to estimate ages based on photos, while young users may also choose to prove their age by uploading a government ID.<\/p>\n There is keen interest in whether Australia\u2019s sweeping restrictions can work as regulators around the globe wrestle with the potential dangers of social media.<\/p>\n Malaysia indicated it was planning to introduce a similar ban next year.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s Communications Minister Anika Wells said last week that\u00a0the European Commission, France, Denmark, Greece, Romania and New Zealand were also interested in setting a minimum age for social media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Children under 16 can no longer access 10 of the world\u2019s biggest platforms, including Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. Australia has banned children under 16 from social media in a world-first, as other countries consider similar age-based measures amid rising concerns over its effects on children\u2019s health and safety. Under the new law, which came into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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