In a significant move to enhance online safety for young people, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, alongside Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, announced on 7 November 2024, that new legislation will impose age-based restrictions on social media use for individuals under 16.
The proposed restrictions will draw on the existing “Social Media Service” definition under Section 13 of the Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth). This adjustment means that platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook will likely fall within the scope of age-restricted social media, and potentially YouTube as well.
Under the new legislation, social media companies will bear the responsibility to ensure age limits are upheld. Each platform will need to take “reasonable steps” to confirm users’ ages, with the eSafety Commissioner tasked with monitoring and enforcing compliance. Importantly, neither children nor parents will face penalties for breaching the age restriction. Instead non-compliant platforms will be subject to fines and penalties, ensuring greater accountability from social media providers.
The eSafety Commissioner will also play a critical role in defining what constitutes “reasonable steps” for age verification, offering social media companies’ clear expectations for compliance. At the time of publication, there has been no guidance from the eSafety Commissioner as to what constitutes “reasonable steps”.
While the government has suggested that age verification may involve ID checks or biometric data, there are ongoing discussions about how these measures should be implemented. Some platforms have proposed that app stores, rather than the platforms themselves, manage age verification. Privacy considerations are at the forefront of concern for parents and children in this space, with the government committing to establish protections to secure any personal data required for compliance. We at Cheney Suthers consider this to be one of, if not the, most important considerations for the government as data breaches and cyber-attacks continue to occur.
The proposed legislation will need approval from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The soonest this could happen is in late November 2024, after which social media platforms would have a 12-month window to implement compliance measures before the law takes effect.
These proposed restrictions mark a significant step toward safeguarding young users on social media platforms in Australia, and we eagerly await the eSafety Commissioner’s determination to set clear accountability for social media companies.
