Australia boots under-16s off social media in world-first crackdown

Australia will become the first country to enforce a nationwide social-media ban for users under 16, with platforms required to remove these children from 10 December unless they can verify their age.

Companies such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube now face fines of up to AUD 50 million (over R560 million) if they fail to comply.

The shift is expected to be deeply disruptive for many young people who have built years’ worth of online identities, photos and friendships on these platforms.

Social-media law expert Emma Sadleir says the ban is a welcome step, though it will be 'jarring' for teens who have grown up online.

"I do have sympathy for some of these kids. As much as I'm hugely in favour of age-gating social media, of this ban that Australia has brought out there, the world leaders, other countries have already started following, I do appreciate that it can be a pretty alarming thing."

She warns that children are routinely exposed to addictive content, predators, cyberbullying and image-based abuse long before they are mature enoughto navigate the risks.

"It has just been mad to me that we've been allowing kids as young as we have been onto these platforms, which are entirely unsafe for them.

"For me, it really is not hyperbolic to say that giving your 10-year-old a smartphone is like giving them the keys to a Ferrari and saying, 'Good luck to you', and not training them and not making sure that they have licenses or understand the rules of the road. We all know that the brain development that is required to make the kinds of decisions that are called upon a driver in South Africa' dangerous driving territory, the same kind of issues apply online."

France and Norway are exploring similar controls, including curfews for teen accounts and even penalties for what France calls 'digital negligence' by parents.

Sadleir says the South African context is more challenging, as most major platforms have no physical presence in the country, making enforcement difficult.

While local advocacy groups continue to push for phone-free school environments, she says broader age-gating legislation would only work if the government were willing to block non-compliant platforms - a step she believes is unlikely.

To listen to Sadleir in conversation with CapeTalk's Amy MacIver, click below: