The federal government could soon have the power to ban children from social media platforms, promising legislation to impose an age limit before the next election.
But the government will not reveal any age limit for social media until a trial of age-verification technology is complete.
It follows changes proposed by the South Australian government earlier this week which would force social media companies to ban children 13 years old and younger or face big fines.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said social media was taking children away from real-life experiences with friends and family.
“Parents are worried sick about this,” he said.
“We know they’re working without a map. No generation has faced this challenge before.
“The safety and mental and physical health of our young people is paramount.
“Parents want their kids off their phones and on the footy field. So do I.”
The legislation will be developed in conjunction with states and territories and be informed by a review undertaken by the South Australian government as part of its draft laws.
A trial is currently underway to look at methods for verifying the age of those accessing social networks and adult sites but it does not require platforms to directly participate. (@freestocks via unsplash)
No specific age set yet
The federal government is currently undertaking a trial of methods to verify the age of people accessing social networks and adult sites.
Its latest phase involves testing tools to prevent children from accessing porn, and teenagers between 13 and 16 from accessing social media sites.
Companies will be invited to participate in a consultation process as the trial is conducted.
The legislation will give the government the power to enforce such a limit in future, once the trial is completed.
Currently, most social platforms or adult websites simply require a user to tick a box to say they are over a certain age.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said getting kids off social media required urgent leadership.
“The evidence shows early access to addictive social media is causing our kids harm,” he said.
“This is no different to cigarettes or alcohol. When a product or service hurts children, governments must act.
Age restrictions have been in the spotlight after national cabinet’s rapid review of strategies to prevent domestic violence found children’s access to free porn online had “normalised” degrading and aggressive behaviours.
But compulsory age verification has also attracted criticism.
Queensland University of Technology professor of digital communications Daniel Angus said such a change raised serious privacy issues.
“It’s not something that is going to necessarily help us in the long term,” he told the ABC earlier this year.
“And indeed, like with the News Media Bargaining Code, we could find the platforms just navigating the way around it and, in fact, it blows up in the government’s face.”
In May, Belinda Barnett — senior lecturer in communications at Swinburne University — also raised concerns about privacy.
“As a parent as well as a social media researcher, I do like the idea of having some kind of age verification for children,” she said.
“But it is actually impossible to implement without collecting information about Australian citizens that we would perhaps prefer social media platforms not to have.”
