How the WORLD reacted to Australia’s historic social media ban: praise from Putin’s Kremlin, intrigue from Britain – and young Spaniards in action

Australia’s ban on social media use by under-16s has caused an international outcry after the world’s first legislation passed the Senate on Thursday.

The bill, which was passed on the last day of parliament for the year, will come into effect at the end of 2025 and will require platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook to block children and younger teens from accessing their services.

Individual companies face a $50 million fine if they don’t comply.

Internationally, news sites such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Independent in Great Britain and the Russian state-owned company TASS reported on the adoption of the law.

The Zurich-based newspaper Blick excitedly published a response from Communications Minister Michelle Rowland on Friday following the bill’s passage.

‘The land of kangaroos has just passed a bill to fine social networks that tolerate accounts opened by children for millions. Blick asked the Australian Communications Minister how and why it was urgent to take action. And Michelle Rowland answered us!’ read the article.

“This reform is about protecting young people and reassuring parents that we are on their side,” the honorable politician emphasized, according to the Australian denomination.

Britain’s technology secretary, Peter Kyle, told the BBC last week that the Australian motion could prompt him to lobby for similar laws in Britain.

International lawmakers and media outlets watched intently on Thursday as Australia’s social media ban was passed by the Senate

The legislation attracted media attention in major world powers including India, the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom (Narendra Modi pictured above)

“I’m in contact with the legislators in Australia,” Kyle said. “As you might expect, I’m very interested in what they do, why they do it and the evidence on which they base it.”

Although Britain currently has no plans for Australian-style restrictions.

The British Independent hoped that Australia would act as a guinea pig for world lawmakers.

‘[It] “Australia is a test case for a growing number of governments that have introduced age restrictions on social media, or have said they plan to do so,” their article said.

The Russian agency TASS noted that the Kremlin had already banned Instagram and Facebook, which are “recognized as extremist.”

However, some media highlighted critics’ concerns. The major Hindi newspaper Amar Ujala, with a circulation of more than 1.5 million copies, quoted Greens senator David Shoebridge in their article.

The newspaper noted that Mr Shoebridge warned that “children from rural areas and the LGBTQ community” would not benefit from the plan.

“They hoped that the government would conduct another study into it, which would show how children could be properly kept off social media,” the newspaper said.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo raised concerns that “technology companies acknowledge that they do not yet know how to verify the age of their users.”

The New York Times reported on the “sweeping” ban, writing that the finer details of the plan seemed unclear.

“Australia has imposed a sweeping social media ban for children under 16, one of the world’s most comprehensive measures to protect young people from potential dangers online. But many details were still unclear, such as how it will be enforced and which platforms are covered.’

The Wall Street Journal labeled it “one of the most restrictive social media bans in the world.”

The Drudge Report, an American site with 640 million views a month, had as its main story on Friday ‘Australia bans social media for minors’.

International media reported on the groundbreaking bill, with Russia’s state-owned TASS backing restrictions on Meta-owned platforms

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland promised the bill would support parents concerned about ‘the harm to children’

Reuters news agency interviewed young people across Europe about the legislation and received varying responses.

“I wouldn’t want this to happen in Spain,” said a 12-year-old Spanish student. “They should have done a demonstration because this is really crazy.”

A twenty-year-old waiter in Rome disagreed.

“It’s an initiative that makes a lot of sense in Australia and that we need to bring here to save the next generation,” he said.

Elon Musk previously claimed the law was unnecessarily restrictive on his own social media site X.

“It appears to be a loophole to control access to the internet for all Australians,” he wrote.

Tech giants Google and Meta pleaded with the government to delay the legislation so their platforms can better assess its potential implications.

TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, also urged further consultation.

The federal coalition supported the policy but argued that the Labor legislation was rushed.

The Albanian government said the new legislation would require the implementation of age verification technology – the details of which have been vague so far.

The bill placed the burden of proof on the social media companies themselves. The age limit will be the highest of all international regulations and will not allow exemptions, including from parents.

However, Australians who circumvent the rules will not face sanctions under the legislation.

Last year, France announced that social media companies would have to verify the age of their users, and that those under 15 who want to use apps like TikTok would have to obtain parental consent.

However, local media say technical problems mean the law is not yet being enforced.

South Korea introduced laws targeting video game addiction in 2011, banning young people under the age of 16 from playing online games between 10:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. The law was later repealed.

China’s Cyberspace Administration has announced similar laws in 2022 using identity verification and facial recognition technology to restrict Chinese youth’s access to video games.

The Norwegian government last month proposed raising the age at which children can agree to conditions for using social media from the current age of 13 to 15, although parents will still be allowed to sign on their behalf if they are under the age limit.

The centre-left government also said it had started legislation to set an absolute legal minimum age for social media use, but it was not immediately clear when a law mandating this could reach parliament.

In Germany, minors between the ages of 13 and 16 are only allowed to use social media if their parents give permission.

In 2018, Belgium passed a law requiring children to be at least 13 years old to create a social media account without parental consent.

The Netherlands has no laws regarding a minimum age for social media use, but the government has banned mobile devices in classrooms from January 2024 to reduce distractions. Exceptions apply for digital classes, medical needs or disabilities.

Children under the age of 14 in Italy require parental consent to sign up for social media accounts, while no consent is required from that age onwards.

“This is a global problem and we want young Australians to have a childhood at its core,” Prime Minister Albanese said last week.

“We want parents to have peace of mind.”