In Australia, children under 16 restricted access to social networks

The Australian government has adopted a law, according to which children under 16 years old can not use social networks. This is evidenced by the publication on the website of the Prime Minister of the country Anthony Albanese on November 21.

"Today (November 21. - Ed.) the government has adopted the world's leading law that sets the minimum age for users of social networks - 16 years old", - stated in the publication.

It is specified that this bill will provide greater protection for young people "at critical stages of their development."

Platforms will have to take reasonable measures to prevent people under the specified age from creating accounts. Among the social networks that will be subject to age restrictions are Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram (owned by Meta, recognized as extremist in Russia, banned), X (formerly Twitter) and others.

"This is a landmark reform. We know some kids will find workarounds, but we are sending a message to social media companies to get it right," Albanese added.

Earlier, on November 5, the State Duma did not support a ban on the use of social networks by children under 14. Boris Chernyshov, deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament, told Izvestia that strict age verification through passports could lead to an increase in fake accounts and informal circumvention schemes.