Australia plans to introduce a new ban. This states that children under the age of 16 are no longer allowed access to social media.
Social media ban for children in Australia
The Australian government is working on a ban on social media for children under the age of 16. They want to do this with an age verification system. The new rules should then come into effect by the end of next year.
Anthony Albanese (the Prime Minister of Australia) said that social media causes too much damage to children and that he intends to stop this. He discussed the impact it has on physical and mental health.
There will be no exception for children who have received permission from their parents. The new rule will also apply to children who already have an account on social media.
What about in the Netherlands?
At the moment it does not appear that such a rule will be introduced here. Children under the age of sixteen must have parental permission to create an account. In addition, various platforms have a minimum age of thirteen years.
But here too, the problem of children on social media is a problem and that is why the European Parliament is working on it. According to reports, Parliament wants to introduce measures. For example, infinite scrolling and autoplay for videos in apps should be restricted.
A possible age check for social media does not seem to be happening for the time being. At the moment, the plans are first aimed at a check for online alcohol sales and payment afterwards.
An online age verification that services can use to protect the ‘rights of the child’ is mentioned. But according to State Secretary Zsolt Szabó (of Digitalization and Kingdom Relations), further elaboration of this will have to be done at European level.
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