The bill contains almost no instructions on its implementation. According to critics, the law may remain a symbolic gesture.
On Thursday, the Australian parliament approved a bill that bans the use of social media by people under the age of 16. The bill has now passed the House of Commons and the Senate and is almost certain to become law.
According to the bill, social media companies must take “reasonable steps” to prevent minors from opening social media accounts. Otherwise, companies face fines of up to 30 million euros. The law does not specify punishments for young people who break the rules or their parents, says the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC.
A centre-left prime minister Anthony Albanese has promoted the bill diligently. The Prime Minister said it would take young people “off their phones and into football, cricket, tennis and netball fields and swimming pools”. The young people themselves, on the other hand, were not enthusiastic about the show.
The bill will be discussed one more time in the lower house of the parliament before it becomes law. The law will enter into force in a year at the earliest.
The law has been criticized for the difficulty of its implementation
Although the bill appears on paper to be one of the strictest in the world, it contains almost no guidelines for implementation. This has led many to suspect that the law will only remain a symbolic gesture that cannot be properly implemented or monitored.
In addition, some services, such as Whatsapp and YouTube, will probably get exemptions because they are widely used, for example, in studying.
Director of DIGI, the interest organization for the Australian digital industry Sunita Bose suspects that the law will be difficult to enforce. According to Bose, the law in its current form leaves many basic questions unanswered.
– What is the technical basis of the law? How widely will the law be applied? How can security risks be managed for young people who may have to resort to the darker and more insecure parts of the internet when trying to access services? Bose said in an interview with the news agency Reuters.
Differing views from mental health experts
Pro-law clinical psychologist Danielle Einstein told an Australian Parliament hearing that he doesn’t think social media is doing any good for young people’s mental health.
Representative of Headspace, a youth mental health organization operating in Australia Nicole Palfrey is more cautious in his view. In his view, the potential harms of social media must be balanced with the benefits of connecting and acquiring information for young people – especially for children living in remote and rural areas of Australia.
A representative of the anti-bullying organization Project Rockit Lucy Thomas states that psychologists and parents tend to see only the disadvantages of social media. I think it is completely justified, says Thomas.
– But we, who work with young people every day, also see [somen] the benefits. We have to be very careful. Otherwise, there is a danger that young people’s rights will be reduced and they will be pushed into even more isolated and less supported places.