‘Even if law helps in just smallest of ways…’: Australia passes bill to ban young children from social media

Australia’s House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalise the world-first law.

The major parties backed the bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (USD 33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.