The Children’s Online Social Media Use Protection Act (CFT) – a Proposal for a New Look at a Backreaction by the Prime Minister

Opponents also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of the positive aspects of social media, drive them to the dark web, discourage children too young for social media to report harm, and reduce incentives for platforms to improve online safety.

Critics argue the government is attempting to convince parents it is protecting their children ahead of a general election due by May. The government hopes voters will reward it with a reward for being responsive to parents concerns about their children’s social media use. Some argue the legislation could cause more harm than it prevents.

The Prime Minister said rules will apply to the likes of Facebook, for example, and that other platforms will not be included in the law. The sites used for education would be exempt.

Tech companies that fail to enforce new age restrictions will be fined up to $50 million Australian dollars, or about $32 million US. The law does not require users to submit their government IDs for verification.

Meta criticized the bill when it was introduced in the Australian parliament last week, calling it “inconsistent and ineffective.” The company urged the Australian government to delay passing the legislation, citing “uncertainty surrounding the ‘reasonable steps’ that need to be taken” for impacted platforms to enforce it. The law seems like it would be a way to control access to the internet by everyone in Australia, claimed X owner Elon Musk.

The platforms will have to keep children younger than 16 from holding accounts if they are fined up to 50 million Australian dollars.

Privacy protections are strengthened by the amendments. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver’s licenses, nor could they demand digital identification through a government system.

“The core focus of this legislation is simple: It demands that social media companies take reasonable steps to identify and remove underage users from their platforms,” Kovacic told the Senate.

Sen. David Shoebridge, from the minority Greens party, said mental health experts agreed that the ban could dangerously isolate many children who used social media to find support.

“This policy will hurt vulnerable young people the most, especially in regional communities and especially the LGBTQI community, by cutting them off,” Shoebridge told the Senate.

The Age of the Children Act: A Serious Attack on the Australian Social Media Age Assurance Platform (Seminar Ryan Ryan, Holdsworth, Stone)

“This is a responsibility these companies should have been fulfilling long ago, but for too long they have shirked these responsibilities in favor of profit,” she added.

Sonya Ryan, whose 15-year-old daughter was murdered by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager, described the Senate vote as a “monumental moment in protecting our children from horrendous harms online.”

“It’s too late to remember those who have lost their lives in Australia but we need to stand together and support each other,” she said in an email.

After his son took his own life due to a online sextortion scam, Wayne Holdsworth advocated for an age restriction and took pride in its passage.

“I have always been a proud Australian, but for me subsequent to today’s Senate decision, I am bursting with pride,” Holdsworth told the AP in an email.

Christopher Stone, executive director of Suicide Prevention Australia, the governing body for the suicide prevention sector, said the legislation failed to consider positive aspects of social media in supporting young people’s mental health and sense of connection.

“The government is running blindfolded into a brick wall by rushing this legislation. Stone said that young Australians deservedevidence based policies, not decisions made in haste.

The platforms had complained that the law would be unworkable, and had urged the Senate to delay the vote until at least June next year when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies made its report on how young children could be excluded.

Criticisms include that the legislation was rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, is ineffective, poses privacy risks for all users, and undermines the authority of parents to make decisions for their children.