What we know so far about the looming social media ban
Parents, teens and educators have the next two months to prepare for the upcoming social media ban.
Here’s what we know so far:
* Australia’s world-leading under-16 social media ban comes into force on 10 December
* Approximately 1.5 million accounts will be disabled on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Threads and X on this date
* Platforms have a responsibility to comply with federal government legislation to “identify and disable or remove” accounts of existing users who are underage
* Part of the legislation requires platforms to provide a simple process to appeal such reviews if an account is deactivated
* Platforms will face fines of up to $50 million if they are found not to have taken “reasonable steps” to comply with the legislation, but young people and their families will not be fined or sanctioned if they access the platforms.
* The government initially planned to exclude YouTube from the ban but reversed this decision in late July
What happened this week?
* A public hearing was held on Monday as part of a Senate committee’s investigation into the impending ban and online security code for search engines
* Rachel Lord, YouTube’s senior manager of government affairs and public policy, said the company did not see itself as a social media platform “that Australians use as a library of content and a learning resource”.
* Google told parliament the ban would be “extremely difficult to enforce” but did not say whether it had lobbied the Trump administration to include YouTube ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to the US on Sunday
* Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the inquiry would consider forcing TikTok, Snap and Meta to appear if they were invited to the hearing but failed to appear
* Separately, Communications Minister Anika Wells held talks with Meta, Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok on Monday to reiterate the government’s expectations ahead of December 10.
* Education ministers met Ms Wells and eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant in Brisbane on Friday as teachers across the country prepare to monitor restrictions
* Ms Wells and Ms Inman Grant announce the launch of a range of resources for parents, teachers and young people at eSafety.gov.au
* Parents and teachers will also be able to register for 43 live educational webinars about the ban, which will be held during lunch hours and after-school hours.
what will come
* Ms Inman Grant was unable to provide further details about which other platforms might fall within the scope of the ban but said the final decision would be announced in the coming weeks
* He said the list would be “dynamic” and subject to review
* The commissioner warned popular gaming app Roblox that the ban could also apply to it, but said the ban could be “difficult” to include as the law only allows the government to ban platforms He said the “only or significant purpose” was social interaction
* Ms Hanson-Young confirmed representatives for Meta and TikTok will face investigation when it restarts later this month after threatening to issue a subpoena to force them to appear in court
