Australia has become the first country to ban social media for children under 16 years of age, blocking access to platforms including TikTok, Alphabet's YouTube and Meta's Instagram and Facebook on Wednesday (10 December).
Ten of the biggest platforms were ordered to block children from midnight or face fines of up to A$49.5 million ($33 million) under the new law, which drew criticism from major technology companies and free speech advocates.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it "a proud day" for families and cast the law as proof that policymakers can curb online harms that have outpaced traditional safeguards.
"This will make an enormous difference. It is one of the biggest social and cultural changes that our nation has faced," Albanese told a news conference on Wednesday.
In a video message, Albanese urged children to "start a new sport, new instrument, or read that book that has been sitting there for some time on your shelf."
In the hours before the ban took effect, many of the estimated one million children impacted by the legislation began posting messages saying goodbye to their online followers.
Albanese's centre-left government proposed the landmark law citing research showing harms to mental health from the overuse of social media among young teens.
Several countries from Denmark to New Zealand to Malaysia have signalled they may study or emulate Australia's model, making the country a test case for how far governments can push age-gating without stifling speech or innovation.
Elon Musk's X became the last of the 10 major platforms to take measures to cut off access to underage teens after publicly acknowledging on Wednesday that it would comply.
"It's not our choice - it's what the Australian law requires," X said on its website.
Australia has said the initial list of covered platforms would change as new products emerge and young users migrate.
Companies have told Canberra they will deploy a mix of age inference - estimating a user's age from their behaviour - and age estimation based on a selfie.
For social media businesses, the implementation marks a new era of structural stagnation as user numbers flatline and time spent on platforms shrinks, studies show.
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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Sunday praised the country’s armed forces as “invincible warriors” during a year-end ceremony honouring the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, held in the coastal city of La Guaira.
Iran successfully launched three satellites on Sunday using a Russian Soyuz rocket from Russia’s Far East, marking the latest stage in growing Iran-Russia space cooperation.
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Moldova has officially notified Russia that the Russian Cultural Centre in Chișinău will be closed, with the institution expected to cease operations within six months, Moldovan authorities said.
Organisers in New York have successfully completed a test run of the Times Square New Year’s Eve crystal ball, less than 48 hours before the annual countdown celebration.
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European leaders held talks on Ukraine after Russia said it would revise its negotiating position, citing an alleged Ukrainian drone attack that Kyiv has firmly denied.
Thieves exploited the Christmas holiday closure to drill into a German bank vault, stealing at least €10 million in cash and valuables from customers’ deposit boxes, police said.
The withdrawal of Emirati forces from Yemen after a Saudi-led airstrike has eased immediate tensions but exposed deeper divisions between the two Gulf allies over Yemen, Sudan and regional influence.
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