TikTok fires shot in social media war, putting heat on the federal government’s crackdown

TikTok has paid tens of thousands of dollars for four-and-a-half pages of newspaper advertising to extol the supposed educational and social virtues of the platform for children.

Anthony Albanese has vowed to adhere to his election promise to crack down on social media.

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The Albanese government will come under enormous pressure to deliver on its pre-election pledges relating to social media age restrictions and the news media bargaining code, as tech companies prepare well-funded public campaigns to lobby for amendments to the laws.

Video-sharing app TikTok fired its first post-election shot at the federal government last week, paying tens of thousands of dollars for four-and-a-half pages of advertising in the Nine-owned Australian Financial Review extolling the supposed educational and social benefits for children who use the social media platform.

In December, the government passed legislation to ban children under 16 from accessing certain social media platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook, but granted an exemption for YouTube because of its perceived educational value.

That decision has angered YouTube’s commercial rivals, which are preparing extensive ad campaigns in the weeks and months ahead seeking to undermine the federal government’s social media legislation, due to come into effect in December.

TikTok is one of several social media platforms arguing against a ban for children under 16. Picture: AFP

In a statement to The Australian on Friday, a TikTok spokesman said: “As a platform, the safety of our community, particularly our younger users, is the highest priority and our in-built safety features recognise that people develop at different stages.

“Regarding the under-16 ban, the law is intended to keep young people safe and special exemptions, not based on evidence, undermine its intent. We will continue to work with the Australian government to keep teens safe and reduce the unintended consequences of this law.”

The intense lobbying in Australia by the social media platforms, and companies Meta and Google with regards to the media bargaining code, is complicated by the political landscape in the US, where tech companies are seeking to closely align themselves with the Trump administration, which is broadly sympathetic to their cause.

US President Donald Trump opposes the push to make tech companies compensate news media outlets for the use of their content, identifying the law earlier this year as a likely trade grievance, and he has also shown little interest in addressing the social harms caused to children by social media platforms.

US President Donald Trump opposes tech companies being forced to compensate media outlets for use of their content. Picture: AP

During the election campaign, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government was committed to the news media bargaining code.

“Our government stands by our media bargaining code. And we have no intention of repealing the world-leading legislation that we passed with overwhelming support that set the minimum age for social media at 16,” he said on April 3.

“That policy is about what’s best for Australian children and Australian parents. These are our priorities.”

On the weekend, a spokesman for the Albanese government reiterated Labor’s commitment to its pledge to rein in the powers of social media platforms and tech companies.

“The Albanese government is progressing the electoral mandate to implement the social media minimum age and news bargaining reforms as key priorities,” the spokesman said.