Google And Meta Urge Australia To Delay Social Media Ban

Google and Meta have urged the Australian government to delay the bill to ban social media channels for children under 16 this Tuesday.

According to Reuters, the tech giants explained that more time is required to evaluate its impact and that the government should wait for the age-verification trial results before implementing the law.

The initiative to ban social media for children and teenagers, led by the Austrialian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, represents one of the strictest measures across the globe, and there are many concerns and doubts on whether or not it is the best approach to alleviate the risks and challenges this vulnerable population is facing. Albanese’s adminsitration is determined to pass the bill and should become a law by the end of the year.

The bill was introduced last week, and the submission of opinions opened for only one day, when Google and Meta shared their suggestions, including waiting for the age verification system trial as it will include government identification and biometrics to determine age and it’s a new technology that hasn’t been implemented before.

“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,” said Meta and added that the bill as it is presented right now is “inconsistent and ineffective.”

Accordign to the new bill, social media platforms must comply with the new system and coud be fined for up to $32 million for breaches.

TikTok also participate and said that the bill wasn’t clear enough and that they were concerned about its impact. X also added that it impacted children’s human rights of access to the internet and freedom of expression.

The Senate should deliver a report soon.

This week, the Australian misinformation bill was abandoned as it didn’t get enough support from the Senate.