World News
Australia to Set New Age Limits for Social Media to Protect Children’s Mental Health
Australia’s government will work with states and territories to legislate new age limits for social media websites, as part of a push to protect children’s mental Health and shield them from inappropriate content online.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will introduce the new laws before an election due within the next nine months, saying parents were working “without a map” to try and tackle the mental Health consequences triggered by social media.
“No generation has faced this challenge before,” Albanese will say in a speech on Tuesday, according to excerpts provided by his office in advance. “Too often, there’s nothing social about social media—taking kids away from real friends and real experiences.”
No specific age limit has been set yet for social media, with the government already trialling age assurance Technology to restrict children’s access to inappropriate content online, including pornography. The government is also still consulting on how the ban would work in practice.
Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday that the government was considering an upper age limit of 14 to 16 years for the ban.
“We’re looking at how you deliver it. This is a global issue that governments around the globe are trying to deal with,” he said.
A June survey by Essential Media found that 68% of Australians were supportive of an age limit of social media, with only 15% opposed.
Since coming to power in May 2022, the center-left Labor government has taken several steps to try to crack down on problems associated with harmful content online. In the first half of 2024, it took social media platform X to court in an attempt to force it to remove footage of a violent terrorist attack in Sydney.
-
World News2d ago
Europe Shrugs Off Russia’s Latest Nuclear Threats
-
World News3d ago
How Bangladesh’s Ousted Leader Sheikh Hasina Could Stage an Unlikely Comeback
-
World News3d ago
Singapore Ex-Minister Sentenced to Year in Jail After Bribery Conviction
-
World News3d ago
Israel Presses Forward Against Hezbollah With Troops in Lebanon, More Airstrikes on Beirut
-
World News3d ago
U.S. Bomb From World War II Explodes at Japanese Airport, Over 80 Flights Canceled
-
World News3d ago
How We Chose the 2024 TIME100 Next
-
World News4d ago
Israel Vows ‘Iran Will Pay’ After Missile Attack
-
World News4d ago
Iran Fires Missiles Into Israel as Retaliation for Killing of Hezbollah and Hamas Leaders