Albanese government to impose a social media age limit

Anthony Albanese has revealed the age he wants to raise the social media age limit to, but will work with states on a final proposal.

Anthony Albanese says he is personally in favour of raising the minimum age of social media to 16, but will work with states on a final proposal to ensure Australia ends up with a nationally consistent limit.

The Prime Minister has announced his government will legislate an age limit for platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook before the next election due in May, in a move designed to protect children from online harms.

Labor has not committed to a specific age, but when asked about 16-years-old as an option, Mr Albanese said “that’s where I’m at”.

“But I want to make sure that we don’t end up with different systems in different states,” he told Nova on Tuesday.

“We want a national approach to an issue.”

Mr Albanese said Labor would have preferred its ongoing age assurance trial to have been completed before announcing an age limit plan, but with states moving forward with different plans he wanted to “make it clear” where the federal government was at.

South Australia has released draft legislation proposing a limit of 14-years-old, while other states have confirmed they will work toward some kind of restriction.

Mr Albanese said governments around the world were “grappling” with the challenge of protecting children from social media harms.

“But if you don’t try, you won’t succeed, and we want to make sure that we get it right,” he said.

Australia will impose a minimum age for social media use to protect children from the mental and physical health harms, as Mr Albanese commits to making the landmark move in this term of government.

The Prime Minister will today announce the government will legislate age limits for platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, before the election due in May, following consultation with states and territories.

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Skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, eating disorders and other harms in children were revealed by News Corp’s “Let Them Be Kids” campaign, which called for a minimum age of 16 to be introduced for social media in Australia.

Mr Albanese has not yet committed to a specific age with the government expected to await feedback from its ongoing $6.5 million age assurance trial and consult with premiers before arriving at a nationally consistent standard.

Mr Albanese said his government was taking action because “enough is enough”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government was taking action because “enough is enough”. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“We know that technology moves fast. No government is going to be able to protect every child from every threat - but we have to do all we can,” he said.

“Parents are worried sick about this. We know they’re working without a map - no generation has faced this challenge before.

“Which is why my message to Australian parents is ‘we’ve got your back’. We’re listening and determined to act to get this right.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton in June committed to introducing a social media age limit of 16 within 100 days of the Coalition being elected to government.

“A Coalition government would introduce a system of age verification to make sure social media companies comply with Australian laws on age access,” he said.

Digital experts say a range of technology solutions already exist to enforce age restrictions, including live facial image age estimation, and secure systems where social media companies could conduct “blind checks” of a user’s age without getting access to their private information.

Over the past 12 years, eating disorders among children under 19 have increased by 200 per cent, while more than 1850 children under 16 experienced cyber-bullying harmful enough to be reported to the eSafety Commission in 2023.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas on the weekend unveiled nation-leading proposals which would hit social media companies with fines if they allowed children under 14 to create accounts, while parents could also sue if their kids were harmed by platforms like Instagram or TikTok.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton committed to introducing a social media age limit back in June. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The NSW Government is to hold a joint summit with South Australia next month, with NSW Premier Chris Minns also committing to a statewide survey to inform future policies to tackle social media harm against young people.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan yesterday announced her government would introduce age limits, while Queensland counterpart Steven Miles has also expressed support for a social media crackdown.

Mr Miles said he was looking forward to working with his state counterparts to protect children from social media.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said: “We expect platforms and online services do their share – because we want to make sure Australian kids can use the internet in an age-appropriate way that supports their learning and lives in a positive way”.

News Corp’s ‘Let Them Be Kids’ campaign included harrowing testimony from those personally impacted by social media use, as well as warnings from experts across the country.

This included the story of Bathurst schoolgirl Matilda “Tilly” Rosewarne, who died by suicide following a relentless campaign of bullying which started in person and then “catastrophically” escalated on social media.