At a single-day Senate committee, an advocate representing major social media platforms said that the Australian government should delay the laws which will ban children under the age of 16 from accessing the sites by at least one year, reported AP news agency.
The advocate representing social media platforms like X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok was the managing director of Digital Industry Group Inc. Sunita Bose.
Bose was speaking at the hearing into the first legislation of the world, which was introduced last week by the Australian parliament.
She added that the parliament needs to first wait for the age assurance technologies’ government-commissioned evaluation, which will be completed in June.
“Parliament is asked to pass a bill this week without knowing how it will work,” Bose was quoted as saying by the agency.
As per the legislation, a fine of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) will be imposed on platforms for their systemic failure in preventing children from making their accounts on them.
Ban on social media will isolate children: Social media platforms
During the hearing, Australia’s Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said that she was looking forward to reading the assessment of the Senate committee regarding the proposed law.
Speaking in the Parliament, Rowland said that the proposed law “supports parents to say ‘no'” to children who wish to use social media. “Social media in its current form is not a safe product for them,” she added
“Access to social media does not have to be the defining feature of growing up. There is more to life than constant notifications, endless scrolling, and pressure to conform to the false and unrealistic perfectionism that can be served up by influencers,” the minister said.
Watch: Australia Tables Bill to Ban Social Media for Kids Under 16
Meanwhile, Opposition Sen. Ross Cadell asked Bose how his 10-year-old stepson has accounts on social media platforms where the nominal age limit is 13.
To this, Bose replied that “this is an area where the industry needs to improve.”
Bose said that the ban carries the risk of pushing children into isolation and driving them to “darker, less safe online spaces,” which “could compromise the safety of young people.”
“That’s an outrageous statement. You’re trying to protect the big tech giants,” said Henderson.
Bose argued that the algorithms of social media platforms help protect young children from wrongful content, including nudity.
“We need to see continued investment in algorithms and ensure that they do a better job at addressing harmful content,” said Bose.
(With inputs from agencies)