To Ban or Not to Ban? Australia's Bold Move and the Changing Privacy Landscape

Amid the global push to protect children’s privacy online, Australia’s efforts are at the forefront of the debate to ban or not to ban children from social media. A debate that is controversial to say the least. As the US grapples with how to protect children from online harms at both federal and state level, the EU and UK have passed far reaching legislation. Now, moves are being made across the ocean to ban social media for children which have sparked concerns among advocacy groups and academics.

The Australian Parliament has adopted the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 that requires age verification and a ban on social media for children under the age of 16. The ban is due to take effect in November 2025. However, just like the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) in the US there is still much to be worked out, not least age assurance and how the bill would be enforced. Age verification methods will be trialed in the coming months. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) responsible for enforcing the requirements is tasked with producing a children’s online privacy code which will be published next year. Fines for noncompliance could be as high as AUD 50 million.

The bill has been criticized in some quarters with child safety campaigners claiming it has been rushed through as Australia’s legislative year comes to a close. Concerns around children’s rights have been raised and their ability to access content. Predictably the social media giants are opposed to the ban, claiming the same concerns around a child’s rights as campaigners. TikTok, Meta and Snap are likely to fall under the scope of the bill though what types of entities would be covered is still to be determined by the regulator.

The US state lawmakers have been attempting to protect children from the harms and risks of social media for some time now, but this has been held back by legal challenges. A federal judge blocked Utah from enforcing a law which aims to protect children by requiring social media platforms to verify age. Industry trade group NetChoice claims the law violates the US Constitution's First Amendment and free speech rights. The California Age Appropriate Design Code Act is also battling an injunction on similar grounds as is Arkansas’s Social Media Safety Act. The law would have required users under 18 to verify their age and obtain parental consent to create new social media accounts. 

These cases are still ongoing and there may be more challenges in the courts to come. However, what is clear is the drive to prevent harms and risks and to protect children is finally in full swing. We should see enforcements under the UK’s Online Safety Act in the coming year as the provisions for children come into force from July 2025. Online services that haven’t taken steps to know the age of their audiences or considered privacy and safety by design will be on the back foot as the privacy landscape becomes increasingly more complex in an effort to protect our children.

Contact PRIVO to learn more about the Kids Privacy Assured program and our compliant and easy to implement smart age gate, age verification and parental consent services to help your company comply with children privacy and safety regulations.