Australia has approved a blanket ban on social media platforms for users under the age of 16. The ban has had mixed reactions in the country, with questions raised about privacy, access and the ban's efficacy. The law won't come into effect until at least a year from now.
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00:00Well, good morning, everyone.
00:02Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
00:05announces a new law that will ban all social media
00:08use for Australians under the age of 16.
00:11World-leading action to make sure social media companies
00:15meet their social responsibility.
00:18Social media is doing harm to our children.
00:22And today, as a direct result of our legislation,
00:26parents can have a different discussion
00:28with their young ones.
00:30The ban would make no exceptions for parental consent
00:33and would require social media companies
00:35to take reasonable steps to enforce the ban on its users
00:38or pay millions of dollars in fines.
00:41The ban will not take effect for at least a year.
00:44The new law would impact nearly every child in the country.
00:47Recent studies show that 98% of Australian 10th graders
00:51regularly use at least one social media platform.
00:55At the same time, only 33% of parents
00:57feel that their children are safe online.
01:00Reactions in Australia have been mixed.
01:03I don't think it's a good thing, really,
01:05because I think that it's not going to stop it.
01:09And also, the government's taking control of things
01:13that is parents' responsibility.
01:15I think that's a great idea, because I
01:19found that the social media for kids is not really appropriate.
01:27Australian teens have a different perspective.
01:30Since I struggle with mental health issues
01:32like anxiety and depression, I think
01:35it would make those a lot worse than they already are.
01:38Being autistic, I have a really, really hard time
01:40connecting with others.
01:42And doing that online makes it a lot easier, a lot less
01:47stressful for me.
01:4917-year-old Leonardo Puglisi founded an online news
01:52streaming platform when he was just 11 years old.
01:55He says the ban could stop many young people
01:58from pursuing their passion.
01:59You know, if this ban was in place a few years ago,
02:0216 years wouldn't have existed in the first place.
02:04We built up our team by having 13-, 14-, 15-year-olds,
02:08people my age, reach out and see us through social media.
02:12Technology companies have been tasked
02:14with finding ways to verify users' age
02:17without violating their privacy through enforcement
02:19trials in the coming months.
02:21It's a fundamental misunderstanding
02:23that age assurance is not identity assurance.
02:26Identity assurance is where I'm proving that I am Tony.
02:29Age assurance is just simply that I am old enough
02:31to be able to access something.
02:33If you want to go into a shop to buy a gun,
02:36you expect to go through some friction about your right
02:40to buy a gun.
02:41Other countries have already cited Australia's ban
02:44as an inspiration for their own.
02:45This includes Venezuela, a country
02:47that human rights groups say already severely restricts
02:50freedom of expression.
02:52I think all of this should be regulated immediately
02:54through a special law.
02:56I ask the National Assembly, the plenipotentiary, the sovereign,
03:00to build a consensus so that we can make a good protection law,
03:05as Australia did and as all the countries in the world are doing.
03:11The Australian law may be the testing lab
03:14for the rest of the world.
03:15And the sweeping change may reshape
03:17how governments and tech companies
03:19handle online youth safety moving forward.
03:22Joseph Wu and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.