The BGA Australia Team led by Managing Director Michael “Mick” McNeill, wrote an update to clients on Australia’s age-based restrictions for social media.

Context

  • The Australian government announced it will introduce legislation this year to ban social media for those under 16 years of age. The move follows concerns about bullying, sexting, aggression, sexualization among other concerns for young people on the major social media platforms.
  • Opposition leader Peter Dutton has supported age-based restrictions and promised to implement similar measures if he wins the next election. Given the bipartisan support, there is a strong chance the legislation clears Parliament this year. 

Significance

  • In September, the government directed the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) to develop a Children’s Online Privacy Code. The OAIC has been given the next three years to develop the code which aims to be country’s first data protection law specifically for children.
  • The specific definition of social media will be outlined in the forthcoming legislation. It will likely include Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat and X and may be extended to other platforms such as YouTube, Reddit, Twitch and Pinterest.

Implications

  • Companies will have 12 months to implement effective age verification controls before the rules come into effect. If the controls are deemed insufficient, companies may face fines by the eSafety Commissioner. Underage users and their parents or guardians would not be subject to any punishments.
  • Responsibility for age verification is a contentious issue. During the ongoing parliamentary inquiry into social media, Meta called for age-verification to be applied at the point of app download, which would be the responsibility of Google or Apple. Snap has argued that device makers such as Apple and Samsung, rather than digital platforms, should be responsible for age verification because identity collection occurs when a new phone is registered.

We will continue to keep you updated on developments in Australia as they occur. If you have any comments or questions, please contact BGA Australia Managing Director Michael “Mick” McNeill at mmcneill@bowergroupasia.com.

Best regards,

BGA AustraliaTeam

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Managing Director

Mick is a highly-experienced government relations expert and trusted advisor on consensus building, conflict resolution and legislative developments. He has played an integral role in helping parties achieve desired outcomes in areas of national security, health policy, foreign policy and reputational crisis management, as well as media relations, communications campaigns, immigration and human rights. Mick has two decades’ experience working with government as a media analyst, political adviser and NGO advocacy manager. After a stint serving as an adviser to an Australian senator, Mick took on the role of the locally engaged senior political specialist at the U.S. Embassy in ... Read More