Australia Proposes Laws for Social Media User Control and Child Safety

In Canberra, the Australian government introduced proposed laws aimed at giving social media users more control over their feeds. The announcement from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese highlights efforts to empower users over the age of 16 with genuine choices about their social media content.

These laws would require social media platforms to offer tools for user empowerment. This initiative aims to extend the capacity of users to decide the content they want to see. It also focuses on safeguarding younger audiences by restricting content that could harm children, such as material promoting eating disorders, gender hostility, pornography, crime, or content causing mental distress.

The move follows Australia’s previous legislative actions in December last year. These laws prohibited children under 16 from holding accounts on major platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. These new proposals represent a continued effort to hold large tech companies accountable and secure children’s online environment.

Prime Minister Albanese emphasized that failure to comply with these regulations could lead to substantial penalties. Under the proposed Digital Duty of Care legislation, fines could amount to 109.2 million Australian dollars (approximately $78.6 million). The government mandates that social media platforms notify both new and existing users, offering them a choice about their default content feed.

Users can either allow algorithms to personalize content recommendations or select content from specific friends and creators they follow. Moreover, digital services such as online games, apps, and AI chatbots must ensure they do not use design features negatively impacting children’s behavior, including addictive elements or those affecting self-esteem.

In a related context, Australia’s online safety watchdog has considered court actions against major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube in April. This step underscores the dissatisfaction with these platforms’ efforts to exclude users under 16 from their services.