Although the government has not yet decided on an age limit, the Prime Minister has projected that it will be between 14 and 16 years old.
It has been promised by the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, that laws will be introduced that will prohibit children under a particular age from using social media. Albanese reportedly made his statement during a television interview that was broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), as reported by Reuters.
According to Albanese, the Australian government plans to initiate its social media project by conducting field tests of age verification equipment at some point during this year. He also did not specify an age limit, but he estimated that he would like the ban to apply to youngsters less than 14 to 16 years old because “we know that social media is causing social harm.”
In reaction to the proposal made by the PM, Meta published a statement in which it pointed out that both Facebook and Instagram already have a minimum age limit of 13 years for users. It was also mentioned by the social media firm that it is interested in enabling young people to reap the benefits of social media through the implementation of parental controls and monitoring “instead of simply cutting off access.”
There have been proposals and attempts made by legislators in the United States and other countries to impose a federal age limit on access to social media platforms. Josh Hawley, a senator from the United States, presented two measures to Congress in the previous year that would make it illegal for adolescents under the age of 16 to use social media. Moreover, in 2023, the state of Utah implemented regulations that mandated that in order for adolescents to access their accounts, they were had to have parental authorization and present a copy of an identification card rather than simply entering their birthday. In the year that followed, Utah did away with the identification requirements.
As experts express worries about the consequences of social media use on the mental well-being of younger users, the use of social media has become a more significant health concern. It was proposed by US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to force social media companies to publish prominent health warnings in the same manner that cigarette manufacturers are required to do so on the packaging of their goods. This proposal was endorsed by an open letter signed by 42 attorneys general from the United States federal government.