Social media sites ask Australia to delay ban on users under 16 by one year: Report

The law could lead to fines up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) on social media platforms if they don't prevent children from having accounts

An advocate representing major social media platforms said the possibly upcoming laws which ban children in Australia under the age of 16 from accessing the sites should be delayed till next year at least, news agency AP reported.

A research by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat made $11 billion in advertising from US users under 18 in 2022 (Representational Image/Pixabay)

The advocate was Sunita Bose, managing director of Digital Industry Group Inc., representing social media platforms in Australia including X (Formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Bose was answering questions at a single-day Senate committee hearing into the world's first legislation, which was introduced in parliament last week, said parliament should first wait for the government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies set to be completed in June.

“Parliament is asked to pass a bill this week without knowing how it will work,” the report quoted Bose as saying.

She referred to the legislation which if passed by parliament by Thursday, would lead to fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) on the platforms if they fail to prevent young children from having accounts.

When opposition Senator Ross Cadell asked how his 10-year-old stepson was able to have Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube accounts from the age of 8 despite an age limit of 13, Bose said,“This is an area where the industry needs to improve,” adding that it would take a year to work out solutions for this.

Bose added that the ban risked isolating children and even driving some to “darker, less safe online spaces” which “could compromise the safety of young people.”

Senator Sarah Henderson said, “that’s an outrageous statement. You’re trying to protect the big tech giants.”

When asked about children being exposed to harmful material, Bose said algorithms were already in place to protect young people online with functions such as filtering out nudity.

Bose also said she was unaware of how much advertising revenue the platforms made from Australian children.

For example, a research by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat made $11 billion in advertising from US users under 18 in 2022.