Anthony Albanese signals social media ban until 16 years under online harm crackdown

Anthony Albanese has signalled his preference for increasing the minimum age when teenagers can access social media platforms to 16, amid a federal government push to legislate an age-based ban by the end of the year.

Anthony Albanese in question time on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese has signalled his preference for increasing the minimum age when teenagers can access social media platforms to 16, amid a federal government push to legislate an age-based ban by the end of the year.

The Prime Minister said the right age to impose a limit was between 14 and 16 years with his personal view being that the “higher limit” should be pursued, while stressing the importance of a nat­ionally consistent approach after South Australia backed a ban for 14-year-olds.

Amid mounting concern about a surge in doxxing, online bullying and deep-fake pornography having a negative impact on mental health, Mr Albanese has committed to introducing, before the federal election, legislation barring access to social media platforms. “So the right age is between 14 and 16,” he told Nova Radio on Tuesday.

“I have a personal view. I err on the side of a higher limit … That’s where I’m at. But I want to make sure we don’t end up with different systems in different states. We want a national approach to an issue which is a national issue.”

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas is pushing for children under 14 to be banned from setting up online accounts after his government commissioned a report from former High Court chief judge Robert French outlining a legislative vehicle to restrict access to platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said there was a “wide variety of views” on the appropriate age to impose the limit, while leaving the door open to legislating the ban before consultation on the age limit was complete. “That’s an option. We’ll take advice from that as we go through,” she told Sky News.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Opposition communication spokesman David Coleman said he supported legislation being put in place to protect children from social media harm, criticising Ms Rowland for suggesting the government may opt to legislate the ban before an age is decided.

“The bottom line is, you need to know what age you believe it should be in order to even legislate it and they don’t know that,” he told Sky News.

Experts are divided on what age marks the appropriate cut off and whether an age-based ban will be effective, with any social media crackdown likely relying on co-operation from tech giants and parents to ensure teens don’t circumvent the laws.

News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller described the plan as “a first bold step at addressing the most concerning of the many harms the tech platforms are inflicting on Australia”. But Mr Miller said platforms must also be forced “to stop running scams and fakes, promoting body shaming and trolling, peddling misinformation and impacting Australia’s democratic way of life” as well as being made to pay for the news content they use.

Women’s advocacy group Collective Shout founder and director Melinda Tankard Reist said she supported the push towards an age limit of 16 in order to delay exposure to harmful content until teenagers had a higher level of development to cope.

“We share the Prime Minister’s view; while increasing the age of access won’t make the platforms safe, it would delay the harm done as a result of exposure to illicit content,” she said.

Heads Up Alliance co-founder Dany Elachi said he believed 18 was the appropriate age for young people to access social media to prevent it harming their “vulnerable psychology, extracting their data, stealing their childhoods”.

“Our view is that it would be 18, so hearing he wants to move to 16 is certainly heartening, it is in the direction we are advocating for,” he said.