Australian children are facing unprecedented change.
From December 10, owners of social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok will be required to take “reasonable steps” to prevent internet users under 16 in the country from creating accounts on their websites, as well as disable or delete existing profiles.
The restrictions, approved by the Australian Government in November 2024, were introduced as a measure to reduce young people’s reliance on the world wide web and limit their exposure to potentially dangerous content. In fact, a national survey released last month found that 7 out of 10 children between the ages of 10 and 15 said they had “encountered potentially harmful content” online.
Lawmakers had hoped the pioneering effort, which affects more than 1 million social media accounts, would spread internationally, despite social media companies expressing opposition to the move.
“I’ve always called this the first domino,” Australian Electronic Safety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant said this week, according to NBC News. “That’s why they resisted.”
