Australia: Parliament adopts ban on access to social networks for under-16s

Australian lawmakers passed landmark rules to ban under 16s from social media on Thursday, approving one of the world’s toughest crackdowns on popular sites like Facebook, Instagram and X.

The bill has now passed both parliamentary chambers with bipartisan support, and social media firms will soon be expected to take “reasonable steps” to prevent young teens from having accounts.

The firms — who face fines of up to Aus$50 million (US$32.5 million) for failing to comply — have described the laws as “vague”, “problematic” and “rushed”.

The legislation passed parliament’s lower chamber on Wednesday and passed the Senate late on Thursday evening. It is now all but certain to become law.