Australia has a plan to combat the iPad kid: Set a national age limit for social media
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- Australia's putting an age limit on social media this year.
- "I want them off their devices," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
- Opponents fear the law could push kids toward more dangerous channels.
The Australian government wants kids off their screens and into the great outdoors.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government was planning age limits for social media to protect young people's mental and physical health, Reuters reported.
An exact age minimum hasn't been finalized, but Albanese floated a range of 14 to 16.
The government is exploring how to enforce the new law, he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"This one is for the mums and dads," Albanese said in a video on X. "I want kids to have a childhood. I want them off their devices and onto the footy field and onto the netball courts. I want them to have real experiences with real people."
Representatives for Meta, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and X did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
While most social-media platforms bar children under 13, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida signed a bill in March preventing kids under 14 from using social media.
Opponents of the proposed Australian law say it may not stop kids from using the internet but instead drive them to less safe parts of the web.
According to Reuters, Australia's eSafety Commissioner, a government agency dedicated to online safety, said in June that "restriction-based approaches may limit young people's access to critical support" and encourage them to seek out "less regulated non-mainstream services."
"We know online harms can threaten safety across a range of platforms at any age, both before and after the mid-teen years," the eSafety Commissioner said Monday in a press release. "We need to continue preparing our young people for the technology trends and digital environment of the future."