Name: Australia enacts under-16 social media ban amid safety concerns
Uploaded: 2025-12-03T06:18:31.932Z
Duration: 1 min 59 s
Description: Australiams under the age of 16 will soon be banned from social media, requiring tech companies to report deactivated accounts. The move has sparked debate over online safety, with the Communications Minister catching heat for her taxpayer-imbursed trip to the U.S. to advertise the ban.

Australiams under the age of 16 will soon be banned from social media, requiring tech companies to report deactivated accounts. The move has sparked debate over online safety, with the Communications Minister catching heat for her taxpayer-imbursed trip to the U.S. to advertise the ban.

Canberra

The Australian government has implemented a new law banning children under 16 from accessing social media platforms, aiming to protect young users from addictive algorithms and cyberbullying. The law requires technology companies to report the number of accounts deactivated after one day, with YouTube and other platforms taking steps to comply, though some have raised concerns about potential safety risks.

Parents who have lost children to cyberbullying have urged others to enforce the new rules, while the Communications Minister promoted the legislation at the United Nations. The minister's trip, costing taxpayers nearly $100,000, has drawn criticism from the opposition, but supporters argue the move has generated global momentum for online child safety.

Australia enacts under-16 social media ban amid safety concerns

The millennial minister wants to stop endless scrolling and addictive algorithms. With one law, we can protect Generation Alpha from being sucked into purgatory. With 86% of Aussie kids aged 8-15 on social media, the federal government will demand tech giants report how many accounts they've deactivated after just one day, but concedes. Yes, there will still be kids with accounts on 10 December and probably for some time after that. YouTube started notifying under-16s they'll be signed out next week. It will comply with the new law, but isn't happy about it, claiming it'll make Australian kids less safe online because they can still watch videos without an account and parents won't be able to block content. YouTube Kids is still allowed. I find it outright weird that YouTube is always at pains to remind us all how unsafe their platform is. With just one week until under-16s are kicked off their favourite apps, many are downloading alternatives like Lemonade and Yope, even LinkedIn, to try and get around the ban. Platforms have been put on notice and mothers who have lost children to suicide over cyberbullying are pleading parents to enforce the rules. Stand fast, get your kids off the devices and then on the flip side, be present. Grieving parents who campaigned for these laws are also defending the Communications Minister's trip to New York to spruik the world's first ban at the United Nations. Senate estimates revealing taxpayers would build almost $100,000 just on flight for the minister and two staffers, plus accommodation, ground transportation and the event. The opposition long critical of the trip, which was days after the Optus triple zero outage. Big amount of money spent on travel while people here were suffering. That event fuelled a global momentum. And now the world is watching. Chloe Boris, 10 News.

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