Australia's Planned Social Media Ban

Australia's current Labor government, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, plans to impose strict rules on teenagers' use of social media. With broad support from the states and both major parties in agreement, the Online Safety Act could pass before the end of the year, likely being introduced in 2025. It would restrict teenagers under 16 from accessing online platforms like Facebook or X, but that's just for starters; Aussie teens will be cut off from broader, ubiquitous platforms like YouTube and, perhaps most devastating of all, the PlayStation Network (as well as Xbox Live).

Now, all of this is obviously not great for Aussie teens who deserve unfettered access to (if nothing else) the PlayStation Network, and this Aussie scribe is not a fan. While the plan sounds draconian, international readers should know that the government in question is largely inept and has no idea how this proposal will be enforced.

Aussie outlet Press Start has been keeping tabs on the situation. More information was posted ahead of the weekend, outlining the government's broad definition of what a "social media service" is, as per the Online Safety Act:

  1. The sole or primary purpose of the service is to enable online social interaction between two or more end-users;
  2. The service allows end users to link to or interact with some or all of the other end users;
  3. The service allows end users to post material on the service.

Albanese's plan is to hold social media companies accountable, mandating that they "take reasonable steps to block people under 16" from accessing them and imposing flaccid fines on offenders. The "maximum fines are less than a million dollars," which is pocket change for these massive corporations.

Of course, offending Aussie teens and their parents will face no punishment for breaking or circumventing these rules, and so the ungovernable Australian public will immediately flout them. Hilariously, the Labor government won't or can't specify the technical method it will use to verify age. Burning all of its goodwill amongst younger voters to appease their elders, we’d bet it will cost them the next election.

Are you surprised that the extremely skittish Australian government is now targeting social media? Could you imagine your own government taking away your PlayStation during those formative teenage years? Head down under to the comments section below.

[source abc.net.au]