[ti:Australia Plans Social Media Ban for Children under 16]
[al:Science & Technology]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2024-11-14]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]The Australian government recently announced plans to ban the use of social media by children under the age of 16.
[00:12.93]Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, "Social media is doing harm to our kids."
[00:21.28]He added that now is the time for the government to intervene.
[00:27.63]The country's Parliament will introduce a new bill during the final two weeks of its meeting starting on November 18.
[00:38.79]The bill will set an age limit of 16 for children to use social media and make the services responsible for enforcement.
[00:51.57]Albanese told reporters that the age limit would take effect 12 months after the bill is passed. 
[01:02.90]And social media services, including X, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, would need to use the year to work out how to put age controls in place.
[01:19.30]"I've spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online," Albanese said.
[01:37.07]The proposal comes at a time when governments around the world are considering ways to control how young people use smartphones and social media.
[01:52.02]Under the Australian proposal, social media companies would face penalties for violating the age limit.
[02:02.12]However, under-age children and their parents would not face penalties.
[02:09.83]Antigone Davis is the head of safety at Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram. 
[02:17.62]Davis said the company would respect any age limits the government wants to put in place.
[02:26.19]She added that officials need to discuss the ways social media can make the age limit happen.
[02:34.11]She suggested that stronger tools in app stores and computer systems for parents could be a "simple and effective solution."
[02:46.54]X did not immediately answer a request from The Associated Press (AP) for comment. 
[02:57.07]TikTok said it would not offer a comment to the AP.
[03:02.88]More than 140 experts in fields related to technology and children signed an open letter to Albanese last month opposing a social media age limit.
[03:17.84]The letter said a ban would not be an effective way to deal with the risks of social media use.
[03:26.45]Sunita Bose is a director at the Digital Industry Group in Australia.
[03:32.76]Bose said in a statement, "Rather than blocking access through bans, we need to take a balanced approach to create age-appropriate spaces, build digital literacy and protect young people from online harm."
[03:49.81]Jackie Hallan is a director at the youth mental health service ReachOut. 
[03:57.01]She also opposed the ban. She noted that 73 percent of young people across Australia seeking mental health support get it through social media.
[04:11.01]She added that young people are likely to find ways to use social media even with a ban in place.
[04:19.72]Child psychologist Philip Tam said it would have been easier to enforce the ban for children under the age of 12 or 13. 
[04:31.13]Tam said, "My real fear honestly is that the problem of social media will simply be driven underground."
[04:40.53]Prime Minister Albanese said there would be rules to permit social media use in some situations, such as a need to connect with educational services.
[04:53.43]Earlier this year, the government began testing age-restriction technologies among a group of users.
[05:00.96]Officials will use the test results to guide what reasonable steps social media services can take.
[05:10.29]Lawmaker Paul Fletcher said the services already have the technology to enforce such an age ban. 
[05:18.89]He added that if the law for controlling social media use is well written, Australia can get the results it wants.
[05:29.16]I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith.