Australia Moves to Ban Young Teens From Social Media

The proposed legislation would put the country at the forefront of regulating social media access for children.

Australia wants to ban children from social media.

Far-reaching legislation announced on Thursday would make the platforms that are the lifeblood of many teenagers — among them TikTok — off limits to anyone under 16.

“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared at a news conference. “I’ve spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online.”

The proposed legislation, which puts Australia at the forefront of regulating social media access for children, would hold platforms accountable for enforcing the new rules, Mr. Albanese said. There will be no exemptions for children with parental permission, he said, but neither underage users nor their parents will face punishment for violations.

He said that the legislation would be introduced to the national cabinet at a meeting on Friday and that, if passed by Parliament, the new restrictions would take effect 12 months later.

X, TikTok and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an open letter published last month, more than 100 experts and organizations in Australia and elsewhere acknowledged the serious risks posed by social media but raised reservations about keeping children from information and connections online that may help them develop.

“Any restrictions in the digital world must therefore be designed with care, and we are concerned that a ‘ban’ is too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively,” they wrote.

Experts say social media can be both positive and negative for children, depending on how they use it. But children’s undeveloped brains may make them especially sensitive to social feedback, and they may become overly preoccupied with securing “likes,” followers and comments from peers.

“Unfortunately, most kids are pushed to use social media simply to get followers,” said Mitch Prinstein, chief science officer at the American Psychological Association. “They are likely to compare themselves to others. They are exposed to cyber-hate. They are often exposed to content that teaches them how to engage in unhealthy or dangerous or disordered behaviors.”

Dr. Prinstein said legislation like that proposed by Mr. Albanese may be a valuable interim measure.

“We really need the tech companies to make their products appropriate for kids, whose brains are in a really important period of development,” he said. “Until that happens, we may need policies like this to protect kids from the worst parts of social media.”

Mr. Albanese, the prime minister, said Thursday that he would meet soon with families, among them the parents of a 12-year-old Sydney girl who killed herself in September after being bullied, according to her parents.

A Parent’s Guide to Kids and Social Media

• Does your child have an unhealthy relationship with social media? This is what problematic use could look like.
• We asked experts for one practical strategy that parents can use with their kids to help mitigate the harms of social media. Here’s what they told us.
• If you’ve already given your teen full access to social media, these three strategies can help them cut back.
• Is social media addictive? Here is what the science says.
• There are many tools that allow parents to monitor and set limits on their children’s screen time. Here’s what to know about them.
• A new book argues that banning social media isn’t the answer to online safety. Instead, the author says parents should emphasize the importance of digital literacy and privacy.