Australia is proposing to raise the minimum age for social media accounts to between 14 and 16, prompted by concerns about the impact of social media (like Instagram) on young people. This would make Australia the first country with such a law. Three quarters of Australians aged 12 to 17 had used YouTube or Instagram, a 2023 University of Sydney study found.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/australia-plans-social-media-ban-children-2024-09-09/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-10/social-media-ban-children-what-we-know/104331384
Looking at Meta:
- Australia has over 14M Instagram users in Australia https://napoleoncat.com/stats/instagram-users-in-australia/2024/08/
- ~5% of Meta's Australian users are between the ages of 13 – 17 https://www.genroe.com/blog/social-media-statistics-australia/13492
- Australia falls outside the top 20 countries by Instagram user base, when considering population size https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1174700/instagram-user-by-country
No major impact on META stock price.
Australia plans to ban social media for teens
byu/Much_Huckleberry_124 inwallstreetbets
Posted by Much_Huckleberry_124
12 Comments
We are a testing ground for whatever fresh privacy violations the five eyes security community dreams up
Australians love voting for regards
Haha it’s funny because they’re pushing for the age of criminal responsibility to be lowered to 10 (or to keep it that way where it already is), you will be held criminally liable for your actions at 10, but are also considered not mature enough to have a YouTube account until 15.
Would never work
I wonder how they will verify/control what the teens are doing with their phones.
Guess it is only a new step to force the companies to establish more censorship methods to show that they try to fulfill this law.
The western world turns more and more into a 1984 or China.
This is a great move by them
I think 13/14 is a good idea. That’s when I got social media and frankly I’m happy I wasn’t a drone like my friends.
For those regards who don’t read articles, the legal implementation would punish/fine social media companies for failing to restrict access to children.
The bill won’t punish those who access the platforms underage, which is unrealistic and ethically challenging.
Lot of 18 year olds suddenly signing up for social media accounts.
Great idea. All countries should do this. F meta and their stock, its a company that does nothing good for our world and society.
They need to first start with banning the rampant racism over there..ooh I forgot it’s taught at home..phew!
Calls.