(Sydney) Under-16s in Australia have been officially banned from accessing many social networks since Wednesday morning, a pioneering move globally aimed at protecting young people from the addictive algorithms of Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.
Hundreds of thousands of teenagers are preparing to wake up disconnected from the apps on which they used to spend several hours a day.
Without “reasonable” measures taken to enforce the law, the platforms concerned risk fines of up to 28 million euros (45 million Canadian dollars) under this obligation which came into effect Wednesday at midnight Sydney and Canberra time (8 a.m. Eastern time, Tuesday), and whose application will be scrutinized by the authorities of many countries.
Australia thus becomes one of the first countries in the world to impose the most radical measures against tech giants, including the American companies Meta and Google.
Social media “are used as a weapon by harassers […], are vectors of anxiety, are a tool for scammers and, worst of all, are a tool for online predators,” justified Labour Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, on the eve of the measure coming into force.
Screen addiction, online harassment, violence, sexual content: the measure is welcomed with relief by many parents in need, but only moderately excites those most directly affected.
“I don’t think the government really knows what it’s doing and I don’t think it will have an impact on Australian children,” said Layton Lewis, a 15-year-old Australian, interviewed before his official exclusion from the platforms.
“Responsibilities”
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and Reddit are now prohibited from maintaining or allowing the creation of accounts for users in Australia under the age of 16. The streaming platforms Kick and Twitch, as well as the social networks Threads and X, are also affected.
For now, the online gaming platform Roblox, the Pinterest network, and the WhatsApp messaging service are exempt from the measure. But this list could change, the government has warned.
Some sites remain accessible without an account, like YouTube.
Among the parents in favor of the measure, Mia Bannister has pointed to the role of social media in the suicide of her teenage son, Ollie, a victim of online harassment and videos that contributed to his anorexia.
“I’m fed up with social media giants shirking their responsibilities,” she told AFP, stressing that by giving their children a phone, parents “are giving them the worst weapon there is.”
Research suggests that spending too much time online is detrimental to the well-being of teenagers.
Dany Elachi, a father of five, agrees: “We must be careful before putting anything addictive in the hands of our children.”
Verification
Meta, YouTube and other tech giants have condemned the ban, which is expected to deprive their platforms of a significant number of users.
Most, however, reluctantly agreed to comply, like Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads) which announced on Thursday that it had started deleting the accounts of the users concerned.
However, legal action has been taken: a group defending internet users’ rights has said it has initiated proceedings in the High Court of Australia.
For its part, Reddit said on Tuesday that it could not confirm reports from several Australian media outlets, stating that it would seek to have the measure overturned by that jurisdiction.
The success or failure of Australia’s decision will be closely watched. The country has 27 million inhabitants. Neighboring New Zealand, as well as Malaysia, are considering similar restrictions.
The Australian government admitted that the ban would be imperfect in its early stages and that resourceful teenagers would find a way to continue scrolling and browsing content on their screens.
According to the text, the social networks in question only have to verify that their users are 16 years of age or older.
Several platforms have announced that they will use artificial intelligence (AI) to estimate users’ ages from their photos. Users may also be required to provide proof of identity.