UK will ‘keep close eye’ on Australia’s under-16s social media ban
Instagram, Facebook, X, SnapChat, TikTok, Reddit and YouTube are among the platforms required to enforce the restrictions
Ministers will be keeping a “close eye” on Australia’s social media ban for under-16s, Lisa Nandy said as the Government unveiled its 10-year national youth plan to tackle isolation online.
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The Culture Secretary said there were no existing plans to introduce a similar measure in the UK due to concerns about “enforceability”, but left the door open to future action if the policy proves to be a success.
It comes as the Government announced a £500 million package to revive youth services, including by building or refurbishing 250 youth centres and giving more children access to a “trusted adult” outside their home.
She told LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: "In this national Youth Strategy, we heard from over 14,000 young people in this country and we very specifically talked to them about their experiences of social media.
"They were really concerned that if you introduced a blanket ban, not only would it be very difficult to make that work, it might push young people into other parts of the Internet that are unregulated.
"What they wanted most of all was adults who could support them and help them to navigate this."
Read more: Australia's social media ban for under-16s comes into effect in world first
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed a world-first social media ban for children younger than 16 as it took effect on Wednesday. However, he warned the implementation would be difficult.
Parents reported distraught children discovering they had been shut out of platforms as the landmark law took effect.
Some young children reported fooling the platforms' age estimation technology by drawing on facial hair.
Parents and older siblings are also expected to help some children circumvent the restrictions.
"This is the day when Australian families are taking back power from these big tech companies and they're asserting the right of kids to be kids and for parents to have greater peace of mind," Mr Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
"This reform will change lives. For Australian kids... allowing them to just have their childhood.
"For Australian parents, enabling them to have greater peace of mind.
"But also for the global community, who are looking at Australia and saying: well, if Australia can do it, why can't we?"
Mr Albanese later told a Sydney gathering of reform supporters, including parents who blame social media for a child's suicide.
Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (£24.7 million) from Wednesday if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove the accounts of Australian children younger than 16.
Australia to report by Christmas if social media ban is working
The ban will be enforced by Australia's eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant.
She said the platforms already had the technology and personal data about their users to enforce the age restriction with precision.
Ms Inman Grant will send the 10 targeted platforms on Thursday notices demanding information on how the age restriction was being implemented and how many accounts had been closed.
"We will provide information to the public before Christmas on how these age restrictions are being implemented and whether preliminarily we see them working," she said.
Privacy commissioner unclear how social media will verify ages
Australia's privacy commissioner Carly Kind said the platforms could potentially ask all account holders across the country to prove they are 16 or older.
The platforms' age verification options were to ask for copies of identification documents, use a third party to apply age estimation technology to analyse an account holder's face, or make inferences from data already available such has how long an account has been held, Ms Kind said.
"There's quite strong privacy protections in the legislation," she said.
"They require social media platforms to delete any data they collect for the purpose of age assurance under this scheme and to not use it for secondary purposes unless they have individuals' consent.
"And that's a really strong and important safeguard."
The government has said requesting all account holders verify their ages would not be a reasonable step, given the platforms already held sufficient personal data of most people to perform that task.
The platforms also cannot compel users to provide government-issued identification.s