Australia, Dec 11: The Australian government has recently taken a historic step to protect school children who are losing their precious childhood and adolescence trapped in the web of TikTok reels, Instagram filters and Snapchat instant messages. This is not just a law, but a social experiment that the world is closely watching in the interest of the mental health and safety of adolescents.
Under the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, which comes into effect yesterday, Australian children under the age of 16 will not be able to have accounts on major social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, X (Twitter), Reddit, Twitch.
Why this decision?
The Australian government is pushing for this tough measure because of the rising mental health problems among teenagers. Data shows that anxiety, depression and suicidal tendencies are increasing significantly as screen time increases.
Shocking statistic: According to expert reports, the suicide rate among 15-17 year olds in Australia has increased by 13% in the last five years. Mental health experts have blamed excessive social media use for this increase.
Announcing the law, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “This is an attempt to protect childhood and provide parents with the tools they need to guide their children properly.”
Mandatory minimum age: Social media companies are required to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent those under 16 from opening and maintaining accounts on these banned platforms.
Penalties: Companies that own social media platforms that do not comply with the rules will be fined up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (about Rs 290 crore).
Age verification: Platforms are allowed to use several methods for age verification, including photo or video-based estimation, ID verification. However, it is important to provide an alternative system without making ID mandatory.
No punishment for young people: There will be no fines or punishment for children or their parents if they violate this law. The punishment is only for the tech companies that operate the platforms.
Compliance and objections from tech giants
Despite initial opposition, all major companies, including Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Snapchat and TikTok, have agreed to comply with these rules after the law was implemented.
Meta and Snapchat: These companies have already moved to disable or verify the age of millions of accounts believed to be under 16.
YouTube's stance: YouTube was initially considered to be exempt for educational content. But after the government decided to protect children from 'dangerous algorithms', YouTube also agreed. YouTube also automatically logs out its under-16 users. They can watch videos without signing in, but cannot comment, like or use subscription features.
Global impact
For countries like India, which has more than 500 million social media users, the Australian experiment will have important lessons. It suggests that parental controls alone are not enough to protect children from social media 'addiction'; strict government controls are needed. The Australian experiment is a bold and important step in one part of the world to free teenagers from the digital clutches of childhood