Australian social media ban for under-16s forging ahead

Only 13 MPs voted against a bill to raise the age for social media use, as 77 per cent of people who took a poll backed the proposal.

Australia is a step closer to raising the minimum age of social media to 16 in an effort to protect children from online harm with only 13 MPs voting against the bill in the lower house.

The proposal will soon move to the Senate where it is expected to be amended with the support of the government to bolster privacy protections, including clearly banning tech giants from compelling Australians to hand over a digital ID or other government-issued documents like a passport or drivers license to access their social media accounts.

In the lower house the four Greens MPs, independents Monique Ryan, Andrew Wilkie, Rebekha Sharkie, Dai Le, Zali Steggall, Bob Katter, Zoe Daniel, Kylea Tink and Liberal MP Bridget Archer voted against the bill, while 102 Labor, Coalition and remaining crossbench members supported it.

Senator Alex Antic will not support the bill. Picture: NewsWire/ Richard Gosling

Senator Matt Canavan will move amendments, but otherwise is not supporting the bill. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

Ms Archer was among several Coalition MPs and Senators who on Tuesday reserved her right to vote against her own party, a move she has made multiple times during her tenure as an MP, but was the only one to actually cross the floor in the House of Representatives.

The new laws would capture sites like Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, but exempt YouTube and other educational and health apps, putting the onus to ensure there are no underage users onto the platforms, rather than policing parents or kids.

A whopping 77 per cent of Australians back raising the social media age, based on a YouGov poll of 1515 people conducted in the week to November 21 released on Tuesday.

Researchers also found 87 per cent of Australians supported stronger penalties for social media companies that don’t comply with Australian laws.

Bass MP Bridget Archer has raised concerns about the proposal. Picture: Stephanie Dalton

Hinkler MP Keith Pitt also has reservations about the bill. Picture: NewsWire/ Richard Gosling

Several MPs expressed concern about the speed of the process behind the bill, which was subjected to just a three-hour Senate inquiry on Monday.

That inquiry was open for submissions for only 24 hours, during which time it received 15,000 submissions.

One Liberal source said there would be more MPs speaking out against the proposal if not for their loyalty to Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who has been a strident supporter of raising the minimum age.

Senator Richard Colbeck is one of five Coalition members considering not supporting the social media bill. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Dutton told his colleagues families were “deeply disturbed” by what their children were seeing and experiencing online.

Debate in the lower house was originally due to be guillotined at 5pm on Tuesday, but it was instead agreed MPs would be able to continue to debate until 10pm in order to ensure everyone had an opportunity to speak.

Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman said the bill was about protecting Australian kids and requiring the tech platforms to take action.

“We’re fighting for every child who’s been devastated by social media,“ he said.

“We’re fighting for the children who are still too young to have experienced these toxic environments. And we are fighting for the children who are yet to come.”

Speaking in favour of the social media bill on Monday, Anthony Albanese said the bill made it clear social media companies had a “social responsibility”.