SYDNEY (Reuters) - Big Tech corporations on Friday hit out at a landmark Australian law that bans youths under the age of 16 from accessing social media, saying the law was "rushed" through parliament.
Australia approved the social media ban for children late on Thursday. The law forces tech giants from Instagram and Facebook owner Meta to TikTok to stop minors logging in or face fines of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million).
TikTok, the hugely popular platform where teen users upload and share videos, said in a statement to Reuters on Friday that it was likely the ban could see young people pushed to darker corners of the internet.
"Moving forward, it's critical that the Australian government works closely with industry to fix issues created by this rushed process. We want to work together to keep teens safe and reduce the unintended consequences of this law for all Australians," it said.
The government had warned Big Tech of its plans for months, and first announced the ban after a parliamentary inquiry earlier this year that heard testimony from parents of children who had self-harmed due to cyber bullying.
Albanese's Labor party, which does not control the Senate, won crucial support from the opposition conservatives for the bill, allowing it to progress quickly.
The bill was introduced into parliament last Thursday and sent to a select committee on Friday where interested parties had 24 hours to make a submission. The legislation was passed on Thursday as part of 31 bills that were pushed through in a chaotic final day of parliament for the year.
Meta criticised the law saying it was a "predetermined process".
"Last week, the parliament’s own committee said the ‘causal link with social media appears unclear,’ with respect to the mental health of young Australians, whereas this week the rushed Senate Committee report pronounced that social media caused harm," it said in a statement in the early hours of Friday.
Snapchat parent Snap said it leaves many questions unanswered.
Australia has been at loggerheads with the mostly U.S.-domiciled tech giants for years. It was the first country to make social media platforms pay media outlets royalties for sharing their content and earlier this year said it plans to threaten them with fines for failing to stamp out scams.
Sunita Bose, managing director of Digital Industry Group, which has most social media companies as members, said no one can confidently explain how the law will work in practice.
"The community and platforms are in the dark about what exactly is required of them," she said.
A trial of methods to enforce it will start in January with the ban to take effect by Nov. 2025.
Forty years after the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz buried the town of Armero, Colombia, survivors, families, and officials gathered to remember one of ...
Wall Street closed sharply lower on Thursday, dragged down by steep losses in Nvidia, Tesla, and other artificial-intelligence heavyweights, as invest...
Australia’s ambition to host the COP31 climate summit is under serious threat as a fierce competition with Türkiye heats up....
The U.S. government is set to resume operations on Thursday after the longest shutdown in American history left air traffic disrupted, food aid suspen...
Walt Disney (DIS.N) is bracing for a potentially long and contentious battle with YouTube TV over the distribution of its television networks, a devel...
Australia’s ambition to host the COP31 climate summit is under serious threat as a fierce competition with Türkiye heats up.
Australia will provide households, including renters and those without solar panels, with at least three hours of free solar power daily under a new government scheme starting in 2026.
Australia police said on Tuesday two people were killed in an explosion at an underground mine in the far west region of the state of New South Wales.
China on Monday sought to keep ties with Australia on an even keel despite tensions over military encounters in the South China Sea this year and broader rivalry in the Asia-Pacific region.
Two earthquakes centered in Cyprus on Wednesday were felt across northern and central regions of Israel, raising concerns among residents in both countries. The first tremor occurred at 11:31 a.m., with the epicenter near Paphos, Cyprus, at a depth of 21 kilometers.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has urged the U.S. to avoid actions that could intensify the war in Ukraine, citing President Donald Trump’s past support for dialogue.
Streets and homes in Taiwan's Yilan County were left inundated with mud and rubble on Wednesday (12 November) after floodwaters swept through residential areas, forcing residents to wade through puddles of water and clear debris from damaged homes.
Russia has expressed its readiness to resume peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, according to a statement by a Russian foreign ministry official, Alexei Polishchuk, quoted by the state news agency TASS on Wednesday.
Iran is facing its worst water crisis in decades, with officials warning that Tehran, home to over 10 million people, could become uninhabitable if the ongoing drought persists.
A night‑time attack by Israeli settlers on a mosque in the occupied West Bank village has drawn strong condemnation from the United Nations and raised alarm over a broader spike in settler‑linked violence.
Forty years after the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz buried the town of Armero, Colombia, survivors, families, and officials gathered to remember one of Latin America’s deadliest natural disasters.
Australia’s ambition to host the COP31 climate summit is under serious threat as a fierce competition with Türkiye heats up.
The U.S. government is set to resume operations on Thursday after the longest shutdown in American history left air traffic disrupted, food aid suspended for low-income families, and more than one million federal workers unpaid for over a month.
Walt Disney (DIS.N) is bracing for a potentially long and contentious battle with YouTube TV over the distribution of its television networks, a development that has raised concerns among investors about the future of its already struggling TV business.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment