Many children posted farewell messages, while parents reported distraught children discovering they’d been shut out of platforms as the landmark law took effect.Some young children reported fooling the platforms' age estimation technology by drawing on facial hair.Parents and older siblings are also expected to help some children circumvent the restrictions.
Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32.9 million) from Wednesday if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove the accounts of Australian children younger than 16.The ban will be enforced by Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.She said the platforms already had the technology and personal data about their users to enforce the age restriction with precision.She would send the 10 targeted platforms on Thursday notices demanding information on how the age restriction was being implemented and how many accounts had been closed.“We will provide information to the public before Christmas on how these age restrictions are being implemented and whether preliminarily we see them working,” Inman Grant said.Wells also warned young children who had so far evaded detection that they would eventually be caught.A child who used a virtual private network to appear to be in Norway would be caught out if they were routinely posting images of Australian beaches, Wells said.“Just because they might have avoided it (detection) today doesn’t mean they will be able to avoid it in a week’s time or a month’s time because social media platforms have to go back and routinely check under-16 accounts,” Wells said.Albanese said the implementation would be difficult and “won’t be perfect.”Popular ReadsMother of Karoline Leavitt's nephew ordered released from DHS detentionDec 8, 3:50 PMAlina Habba resigns as New Jersey US attorney after appeals court defeatDec 8, 2:10 PMTrump admin live updates: Trump pardons former entertainment exec indicted by own DOJDec 4, 6:23 AMWayne Holdsworth, who became an age restriction advocate because his son Mac took his own life after falling victim to an online sextortion scam, described the new law as a start.
Children must now be educated about online dangers before they turn 16.“Our kids that we’ve lost haven’t died in vain because today they’ll be looking down very proud of the work that we’ve all done,” Holdsworth told the Sydney gathering.Flossie Brodribb, a 12-year-old advocate for a social media ban for young children, told the gathering she hoped other countries would follow Australia’s lead.“This ban is bold and brave and I believe it will help kids like me to grow up healthier, safer, kinder and more connected to the real world,” Flossie said.Australia's Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind said the platforms could potentially ask all account holders across the country to prove they were 16 or older.The platforms’ age verification options were to ask for copies of identification documents, use a third party to apply age estimation technology to analyze an account holder’s face, or make inferences from data already available such has how long an account has been held, Kind said.“There’s quite strong privacy protections in the legislation.They require social media platforms to delete any data they collect for the purpose of age assurance under this scheme and to not use it for secondary purposes unless they have individuals' consent.And that’s a really strong and important safeguard,” Kind said.The government has said requesting all account holders verify their ages would not be a reasonable step, given the platforms already held sufficient personal data of most people to perform that task.
