Social media ban for children younger than 16 introduced in Australia's Parliament
Melbourne (AP): Australia's communications minister introduced a world-first law into Parliament on Thursday that would ban children younger than 16 from social media, saying online safety was one of parents' toughest challenges.
Michelle Rowland said TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram were among the platforms that would face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (USD 33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.
“This bill seeks to set a new normative value in society that accessing social media is not the defining feature of growing up in Australia,” Rowland told Parliament.
“There is wide acknowledgement that something must be done in the immediate term to help prevent young teens and children from being exposed to streams of content unfiltered and infinite,” she added.
The bill has wide political support. After it becomes law, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restriction.
“For too many young Australians, social media can be harmful. Almost two-thirds of 14- to 17-years-old Australians have viewed extremely harmful content online including drug abuse, suicide or self-harm as well as violent material. One quarter have been exposed to content promoting unsafe eating habits,” Rowland said.
Government research found that “95 per cent of Australian care-givers find online safety to be one of their toughest parenting challenges,” she said.
Social media had a social responsibility and could do better in addressing harms on their platforms, she said.
“This is about protecting young people, not punishing or isolating them, and letting parents know that we're in their corner when it comes to supporting their children's health and wellbeing,” Rowland said.
Child welfare and internet experts have raised concerns about the ban, including isolating 14- and 15-year-olds from their already established online social networks.
Rowland said there would not be age restrictions placed on messaging services, online games or platforms that substantially support the health and education of users.
“We are not saying risks don't exist on messaging apps or online gaming. While users can still be exposed to harmful content by other users, they do not face the same algorithmic curation of content and psychological manipulation to encourage near-endless engagement,” Rowland said.
The government announced last week that a consortium led by British company Age Check Certification Scheme has been contracted to examine various technologies to estimate and verify ages.
In addition to removing children under 16 from social media, Australia is also looking for ways to prevent children under 18 from accessing online pornography, a government statement said.
Age Check Certification Scheme's chief executive Tony Allen said Monday the technologies being considered included age estimation and age inference. Inference involves establishing a series of facts about individuals that point to them being at least a certain age.
Rowland said the platforms would also face fines of up to AUD 50 million (USD 33 million) if they misused personal information of users gained for age-assurance purposes.
Information used for age assurances must be destroyed after serving that purpose unless the user consents to it being kept, she said.
Digital Industry Group Inc., an advocate for the digital industry in Australia, described the age limit as a “20th century response to 21st century challenges.”
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Young woman from MP who shot to fame during Kumbh found to be minor, case registered against husband
Khargone (MP) (PTI): The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes on Friday confirmed that a young woman from Madhya Pradesh who became famous due to her viral videos during the 2025 Maha Kumbh has been found to be a minor after an inquiry.
Citing the findings of an inquiry panel set up by the commission, local BJP leaders alleged that her interfaith marriage in Kerala last month was a case of "love Jihad", and sought legal action.
While the panel had submitted its report in March, ST commission chairman Antar Singh Arya confirmed its findings to the PTI on Friday.
A case for alleged kidnapping and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has already been registered against her husband, a Muslim man, at Maheshwar on the basis of the inquiry findings, police said.
The girl gained national fame after her videos while selling garlands and rudraksha at the Maha Kumbh went viral on social media and also earned her a role in a film.
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes set up an inquiry panel after receiving a complaint on March 17 from Pratham Dubey, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, that she was a minor and was being exploited.
Maheshwar BJP MLA Rajkumar Mev and BJP mandal president Vikram Patel, armed with documents, told reporters on Friday that her marriage in Kerala was a case of "love Jihad" and she should be brought back home.
'Love jihad' is a term used by right-wing groups to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into marriage to convert them to Islam.
Police said an investigation is underway, and further action would be taken accordingly.
The girl, who belongs to the nomadic Pardhi community, got married at a temple in Kerala in March. The interfaith marriage drew angry reactions from rightwing Hindu groups.
Her family members and film director Sanoj Mishra -- who had offered her a film role after she became famous -- too alleged that it was 'love Jihad'.
As per the inquiry conducted by the ST commission, records at the Maheshwar government hospital showed the woman's date of birth as December 30, 2009 which meant she was 16 years and two months old at the time of marriage, said Dubey, the complainant.
On a complaint filed by her father, police registered a case against the girl's husband at Maheshwar police station on March 25 for alleged kidnapping and under the POCSO Act and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Police sources said that a separate case was also registered on March 24 under section 137(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (taking a minor from lawful custody of guardian without their consent) based on the the commission's findings.
