Meta Begins Blocking Children's Accounts on Social Media 0 3

Australia has become the first country in the world to ban children under 16 from using social media.

The ban will take effect on December 10, and the law requires social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to remove or block accounts of users under 16 by that date.

If the platforms do not take "reasonable measures" to comply with the ban, they face a fine of 49.5 million Australian dollars (28 million euros).

"While we are making serious efforts to remove all users we believe are under 16 by December 10, compliance with the law will be an ongoing and multi-layered process," Meta stated.

Users under 16 will still be able to save and download their online history, a company representative indicated.

"Before you turn 16, we will let you know that you will soon be able to access these platforms again, and your content will be restored as you left it," he added.

Meta has stated its intention to comply with Australian legislation, but urged that the responsibility for age verification should not fall on social networks, but rather on app stores.

"The government should require app stores to verify age and obtain parental consent every time teenagers under 16 download apps, thus eliminating the need for repeated age verification across different apps," noted the Meta representative.

The video platform YouTube has also criticized the ban on social media use, claiming that the new law will reduce the safety of youth in Australia, as teenagers under 16 will be able to visit the site without an account but will lose YouTube features, including protective filters.

However, the government called such an argument absurd.

Communications Minister Anika Wells pointed out that YouTube itself acknowledges the presence of content in its environment that is not suitable for users with age restrictions. She emphasized that this is a problem for YouTube itself, and it should address it independently.

Australia is a leader in global efforts to combat the harm caused by the internet, but the current legislation contains little information on how exactly the ban will be implemented.

Critics express concerns that the law will prevent teenagers from building social connections online and will force them to seek other, unregulated ways of communicating online, which could further harm their well-being.

Meanwhile, regulators around the world are striving to find effective ways to combat the threats posed by social media and are watching with interest how effective the strict restrictions being introduced in Australia will be.