…But Cos Can Be Fined Up To A$50M
There are an estimated 440,000 Australian teens, ages 13 to 15, on Snapchat. On Instagram, 350,000 of that age group are active users, and on TikTok, 200,000. Even Facebook – not exactly squarely in the Gen Alpha zeitgeist – reportedly has 150,000. On Wednesday, those numbers drastically changed under a landmark law that requires users in Australia to be at least 16 to have accounts on social media platforms. Here is how the law is expected to work.What social media services are covered by the law?The platforms currently affected by the law are Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube. Other services widely used by young teens were excluded because Australia’s eSafety commissioner deemed them to be primarily for messaging or gaming, including: Discord, Messenger, Pinterest, Roblox, WhatsApp and YouTube Kids. Regulators say they will continue to review the services.How will the platforms verify users’ age?The burden is on the respective tech companies to deactivate younger users by utilising an array of age estimation and verification technologies at their disposal, in addition to the user’s self-reported age. Regulators have said the companies may rely on factors like how long the account has been active; whether it interacts with other underage users; facial or voice analysis; or activity patterns consistent with school hours. Phones are already banned in all Australian schools. The law says that the platforms cannot require users to provide govt identification as the only option to verify their age, a response to privacy concerns.What if you’re not logged in to a social media account?Underage users will continue to be able to access posts or videos that are openly available to those without an account. Even so, govt says barring kids from having accounts will spare them from the apps’ most harmful design features, like the algorithms or push notifications that are central to their addictive potential.What do the companies say?Tech companies have criticised the law as being poorly designed, saying teens will no longer benefit from features that they have been introducing to make their platforms a safer place, like parental controls or teen-specific accounts.What are the penalties?There are no punishments for children or parents who continue to access social media. The companies, however, can face fines up to 50m Australian dollars ($33m) for not taking steps to prevent users younger than 16 from having accounts on their platforms. Go to Source
