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Voltaire Staff

Google, Meta urge Australia to delay bill banning children from social media


Google and Meta on Tuesday urged the Australian government to delay a ban on most forms of social media for children under 16, saying they needed more time to assess its impact and put in place an age verification system.


The Anthony Albanese government last week tabled a bill that will ban social media for under 16 children. The government wants to pass the bill by the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday.


The bill was opened for submissions of opinions for only one day.


Google and Meta in their submissions urged the Australian  government to wait for the results of an age-verification trial before going ahead. 


According to the bill, the onus of keeping the children away from social media rests on the tech firms rather than the parents or guardians. 


"In the absence of such results, neither industry nor Australians will understand the nature or scale of age assurance required by the bill, nor the impact of such measures on Australians," the Facebook-owner said, according to Reuters.


"In its present form, the bill is inconsistent and ineffective," it said.


The bill has a provision of fine of up to US $32 million for systemic breaches on companies.


Though the opposition Liberal party is expected to support the bill, some independent lawmakers have accused the government of rushing the legislation.


A report on the bill by a Senate committee is scheduled to be delivered today. 


Chinese firm Bytedance's TikTok said the bill lacked clarity and spoke of "significant concerns" it had with it.

 

"Where novel policy is put forward, it's important that legislation is drafted in a thorough and considered way, to ensure it is able to achieve its stated intention. This has not been the case with respect to this Bill," TikTok said.


Elon Musk last week slammed the bill saying it could be an attempt by the government to control access to the internet. 


"Seems like a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians," Musk said in a reply to Prime Minister Albanese's post on X about the bill.


Image Source: Unsplash

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