Eight days since the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 was first introduced by the Australian Government, the legislation setting the minimum age requirement of 16 years to access social media has passed Parliament.

The polarising bill intends to “place the onus on social media platforms – not young people or their parents – to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 years of age from having accounts”, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Failure to do so by online platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X and others, could incur fines of up to $49.5 million.

“We’ve passed important legislation to keep our kids safe online,” Albanese said.

“Social media is doing social harm to our kids. We’ve called time on it. We want our kids to have a childhood and parents to know we have their backs.”

The Prime Minister confirmed the Bill would still allow those aged under 16 years old to access messaging, online gaming and online educational or health support services and apps; including Headspace, Kids Helpline, Google Classroom and YouTube.

Under the new provisions, platforms would be required to carefully handle and destroy any data it has collected from an individual attempting to verify their age once the assurance process is complete, or risk breaching the Privacy Act and incur penalties of up to $49.5 million.

“The Albanese Government is resolute in its commitment to keeping children safe online, and the passage of this vital legislation is just one way we’re delivering on this commitment,” Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, said.

“We’ve listened to young people, parents and carers, experts and industry in developing these landmark laws to ensure they are centred on protecting young people – not isolating them.

“Good government is about facing up to difficult reform – we know these laws are novel, but to do nothing is simply not an option.

“Over the next 12 months, we’ll work closely with industry and experts to ensure the minimum age is effectively implemented, informed by the findings of the Age Assurance Technology Trial currently underway.”

While the bill has been welcomed by the New South Wales and South Australia governments, the platforms themselves have hit out against implementing a ‘blanket ban’.

“We are concerned about the process which rushed the legislation through while failing to properly consider the evidence, what industry already does to ensure age-appropriate experiences, and the voices of young people,” a Meta spokesperson said.

“Last week, the parliament’s own committee said the ‘causal link with social media appears unclear,’ with respect to the mental health of young Australians, whereas this week the rushed Senate Committee report pronounced that social media caused harm.

“[This demonstrates] the lack of evidence underpinning the legislation and suggests this was a predetermined process.

“The task now turns to ensuring there is productive consultation on all rules associated with the bill to ensure a technically feasible outcome that does not place an onerous burden on parents and teens and a commitment that rules will be consistently applied across all social apps used by teens.”

“Alongside numerous academics and experts including the Privacy Commissioner and the Human Rights Commissioner, we have raised serious concerns about the legislation,” a Snap Inc. spokesperson said.

“While there are many unanswered questions about how this law will be implemented in practice, we will engage closely with the government and the eSafety Commissioner during the 12-month implementation period to help develop an approach that balances privacy, safety and practicality.

“As always, Snap will comply with any applicable laws and regulations in Australia.”

“The safety of our community, particularly our younger users, is a top priority for TikTok. We will continue to work hard to enforce our high safety standards,” a TikTok spokesperson said.

“Moving forward, it is important that the Government works closely with industry to fix issues created by this rushed process. We want to work together to keep teens safe and reduce the unintended consequences of this Bill for all Australians.”

Albanese said involved social media platforms have no more than 12 months from the Bill being passed to decide and implement the required age assurance processes and systems before the new laws come into effect.

“I want to congratulate the Albanese Government on passing these laws. They are world leading,” NSW Premier, Chris Minns, said.

“I’ve said before, social media is this giant global unregulated experiment on children, and we have to change that.

“The parents I speak to and certainly the evidence acknowledges that social media is doing an enormous amount of harm to young people.

“By making this law, at the very least we empower parents to be able to say no to their kids when it comes to social media because it’s now against the law.

“It also means kids can focus on being kids, talking to each other face to face, spending time outdoors and not fixated on their screens.”

“This legislation is world leading. It is in the interest of our children,” SA Premier, Peter Malinauskas, said.

“We want kids off phones, engaging with each other in a healthy way, and not being subjected to the addictive algorithms that we know major social media platforms deploy for their commercial interests at the expense of children’s mental health.

“We can never ever allow commercial interests to usurp the interests of children reaching their potential.

“This legislation sends a clear message to social media companies that they have a duty to our young people.

“I applaud the Prime Minister for taking up a position of leadership on this issue, and acknowledge the bipartisanship shown to make sure this important reform passes.”