The Australian government plans to ban children and teenagers under the age of 16 from using social media. The new restriction was supposed to be introduced by the end of 2024, but now the government will focus on testing technologies. This was reported by ABC News.

Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia, confirmed that the new ban will apply to young people who are already using social media and does not provide for exceptions due to parental consent. The ban will come into force one year after the law is passed by parliament.

According to the new ban on social networks, compliance with the age limit will fall on the shoulders of development companies. At the same time, users themselves will not face any penalties.

This law did not sit well with Meta, a company that owns several social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Meta has launched a public campaign stating that parents of Australian teenagers want more control than this ban gives them.

If the ban goes into effect, Australian children and teenagers will lose access to the already mentioned social platforms Meta, as well as X, Threads, YouTube and TikTok. The Australian government has stated that the definition of what constitutes a social network that falls under the ban will depend on the Internet Safety Act.