The Australian government has approved a ban on social media for children under the age of 16.
Despite safety concerns, the country’s parliament passed the world’s first law banning under-16s on Thursday, November 28.
The bill was enacted amid worries that the process had been rushed and that a ban could send youth towards the dark web or into isolation.
The Social Media Minimum Age law sets Australia up as a test case for a growing number of governments which have legislated or stated they aim to implement an age restriction on social media amid concern about its mental health impact on young people.
The new law was drafted in response to what Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called a “clear, causal link between the rise of social media and the harm [to] the mental health of young Australians.”
The Senate, the upper house of parliament, passed a bill by a vote of 34 to 19 that would ban children under 16 from using social media platforms.
However, politicians, advocacy groups, and academics cautioned that the government’s proposed ban could backfire, sending teenagers to the dark web or making them feel even more alone.
