Australia: Meta, TikTok and Snapchat condemn social media ban on under-16s

Social media giants have condemned Australian law banning under-16s from accessing social media on Friday, citing the risk that it could send them to dangerous alternative platforms.

The text, which was adopted Thursday by the Australian Parliament, should soon require platforms such as X, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat to take “reasonable measures” to prevent children and young adolescents from having an account.

Failure to comply with this obligation will result in fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (30.7 million euros).

“It is entirely likely that the ban will lead young people to darker areas of the internet where there are no general rules, safety tools or protection,” noted a TikTok spokesperson in a statement Friday, saying it regretted that the Australian government had ignored the advice of many experts.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has criticized the failure to take into account what the industry is “already doing to ensure age-appropriate experiences,” while ensuring that the law will be respected.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Australia has also said the law is not a “silver bullet” against online dangers and could redirect children to “hidden and unregulated” spaces.

Centre-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has acknowledged that the law will not be perfectly enforced, like the age restriction on alcohol sales, but that it is nevertheless the “right thing to do.”

Mr. Albanese, who is preparing for elections early this year, has championed the bill and called on parents to rally behind it.

– “Unanswered questions” –

Despite much reluctance, the social media giants have committed to working with the Australian government to define the terms of application of the law before it comes into force, scheduled for a year from now.

The text provides almost no details on its terms of application, so much so that some experts have expressed doubts about the technical feasibility of this ban and wonder if it is not a text with symbolic scope, but inapplicable.

Australians themselves seem doubtful.

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“I don't think it will change much, because I don't see a really effective way to police,” says Emily Beall, a Melbourne resident aged 41 years old.

Arthur McCormack, 19, says he saw content on social media when he was younger that was “a bit traumatic”. While he supports the law's adoption, the young man has difficulty seeing how it could be implemented.

Meta argued for these implementation modalities to be the subject of a consultation in order to guarantee a “technically feasible result that is not an onerous burden on parents or teenagers”.

A Snapchat spokesperson also assured AFP that the application would collaborate to “help develop an approach that balances confidentiality, security and enforceability”.

The company has nevertheless expressed “serious concerns” about this law, the application of which raises “many unanswered questions” according to it.

Katie Maskiell, a UNICEF official in Australia, said young people must be protected in the digital age, but not excluded.

“This ban risks preventing them from accessing aspects of the online world that are essential to their well-being,” she said.

– Global interest –

One of the issues raised by this new legislation is the provisions relating to the protection of private life.

Amendments have been made to the text to prevent users from having to provide their identity card to prove their age.

Teenagers use their phones in Melbourne, Australia, on November 28, 2024 © AFP – William WEST

For social media giants, age verification should be handled by app stores, but the Australian government believes that this responsibility falls to them.

Some platforms like WhatsApp and YouTube, which teenagers need to do their homework, should be exempted.

The entry into force of this new legislation will be closely followed abroad, with several countries also considering implementing similar restrictions, such as Spain.

In the US state of Florida, a law is due to come into force in January to prohibit under-14s from opening an account, but the practical arrangements have not been set.

China has restricted access for minors since 2021 and requires identification via an identity document. Under-14s cannot spend more than 40 minutes per day on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and the online gaming time of children and adolescents is also strictly limited.

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