Australia said Tuesday it plans to introduce legislation this year to ban children from using social media platforms, citing the risks it could pose to physical and mental health.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his centre-left government would begin an age verification process in the coming months.
“I want to see kids put down their devices and go to football, to swimming pools and to tennis courts. We want them to have real experiences with real people because we know that social media is causing social harm,” Albanese told national broadcaster ABC News.
He did not specify age limits for the ban, but said he was “considering the range between 14 and 16.”
Mr Albanese said he was concerned about the impacts of cyberbullying on children’s mental health and the easy exposure to content on social media that could harm them.
The move comes after Australia’s e-safety regulator in July asked internet companies to produce enforceable code detailing how they would prevent children from viewing pornography and other inappropriate material, or face the imposition of an industry-wide code.
Several countries have been trying to restrict minors’ use of social media, but legal challenges and technology, such as virtual private networks that disguise locations, have hampered governments’ efforts.
“This is a global problem that governments around the world are trying to address… we know it’s not simple or easy, otherwise governments would have responded sooner,” Albanese said.
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