Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to introduce minimum age requirements for social media

Prime Mininster Anthony Albanese will impose a minimum age for social media use to protect children from its mental and physical health harms, the win for kids coming after a News Corp campaign.

Australia will impose a minimum age for social media use to protect children from the mental and physical health harms.

Anthony Albanese has committed to this landmark move in this term of government.

The Prime Minister on Tuesday will announce that the federal government will legislate age limits for platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, before the next election – due in May – after consultation with the states and territories.

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

The move will target social media companies instead of parents and children. Picture: Supplied

The first front page story of the Herald Sun’s “Let Them Be Kids” campaign.

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

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

“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.”

Premier Jacinta Allan announced on Monday Victoria would also embark on consultation about raising the social media age.

Ms Allan said social media companies, not parents and children, would be the targets.

Victorian rules would target the tech giants “because they’re the ones we need to hold to account”, she said.

“This won’t solve everything, but it’s the right place to start,” Ms Allan said.

“Social media is just not a place for kids before they are ready. It harms their development and their focus and it’s not just parents telling me that, it’s young people too.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says enough is enough. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Speaking on Tuesday, Ms Allan said she was “absolutely thrilled” to see the Prime Minister adopt age limit restrictions.

Victoria would piggyback on legislation proposed by the South Australian and Commonwealth governments, she said.

The Victorian government will also host consultations with parents, schools and kids that will help contribute to national legislation, she said.

Ms Allan said she had grappled as a parent with social media use among her own children who are not allowed to use the platforms outside of a parental controlled “kids messenger” service.

“Other than that, there’s no social media in our household and that causes conflict…because my kids, they want to be able to access YouTube and these other platforms,” she said.

“We have a conversation every single day in our household about why it’s harmful and it’s hard.

“That’s why we want to help parents.”

Premier Jacinta Allan announced the move on Monday Picture: NewsWire

The heartbroken father of Kilmore teen Jessica Cleland, who took her own life in 2014 because of online bullying, told the Herald Sun social media age limits were a step in the right direction but more needed to be done to keep kids safe.

“There should be, for all young ones, a curfew of about 8pm or 9pm on social media, because that’s where Jessica’s problems were, at night,” he said. “But it’s a good start, because we’ve fought for 10 years for something to change.”

Mr Cleland said he hoped that in its consultations around new laws, the government “talks to people like us”.

Leading youth psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said raising the age of social media access was ­“excellent” news for parents.

“Whether or not they choose the right way to enforce it, or whether or not it’s the right age, is not the point,” he said.

“The point is that the message to parents is important, that social media companies don’t have your children’s best interests at heart and it’s really important that parents take the responsibility to regulate use now.”