TikTok, Instagram Blocked for Teens Under 16 Starting Dec 10

Australia is about to put in place an extraordinary youth social media usage limitation, thereby being the first democracy to prohibit persons under the age of sixteen from TikTok and Instagram and similar platforms. The new law will come into force on December 10, 2023, and this will put Australia at the front of the digital safety policy line internationally and also cause the countries concerned to consider similar step.

The built-in user age verification and account blocking for all kids below 16 have been imposed by the platforms under the law. The maximum fine for noncompliance by companies is AUD 49.5 million. The law is a reaction to the worldwide debate concerning the impacts of online platforms on minors that have been persistent and vocal for long, including the issue of cyberbullying and addictive content mechanisms.

The movement of Australia is followed up closely by the governments in Europe, Asia, and South America. Denmark, Brazil, Indonesia, and Malaysia have all indicated that they are planning to launch age-based restrictions that are stricter, while the countries of Spain, New Zealand, and Singapore are said to be considering similar policies. Caroline Stage Olsen, the Danish Digital Affairs Minister, referred to the decision as “a pivotal move in the times when the digital world is forming the youngsters’ perception.”

Teenagers are the main users of social media platforms and the performance of these companies brings a lot of revenue through advertisements. Analysts believe that the figure of global social media revenues will go above USD 245 billion by 2025. The cutting down on user access for under-16 consumers in Australia might change the financial plans of businesses like Meta, Snap, and TikTok, whose operating modes rely heavily on the vast user engagement.

The major platforms have acknowledged the decision of the ruling yet have spoken of the difficulties in enforcing it. Meta points out that rather than outright bans, parent control and education may work better. TikTok and Snap expressed worry about younger users being driven to the less-regulated online spaces.

Legislation revolved around the idea of regulating social media after the South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas was influenced by Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation and urged by his wife to consider the impacts of social media on children. Thereafter, public protests escalated as more instances of suicide linked to online bullying surfaced, like that of Tilly Mason, the daughter of a children's lawyer whom hitherto she had been representing, and who today is fighting for children's rights internationally and thus is a rather prominent advocate of more secure digital environments for minors.

Others warn that implementation of an entry-age based regulation could produce adverse effects particularly in the case of minors. Amnesty International Australia's White Nikita pointed out that support for LGBT youth is heavily dependent on virtual communities, thus warning that issuing a general ban might sever these very vital connections. A number of teenagers are of the opinion that regulatory attention should be solely on the content being harmful and not on simply access. Patrick Jones, 16, participant of UrVoice Australia, stated: ‘The trouble lies with the content and not the age limitation.’

Arturo Béjar, the former engineering director at Meta, who went on to become a consultant to Instagram, backed the Australian government’s decision to take a repressive approach towards social media. As one of the internal studies he unveiled, within one week, every eighth user younger than 16 on Instagram had received an unsolicited offer of a sexual nature. Béjar told the U.S. Senate that Meta had not adequately secured the minors who are using their services, and government intervention was necessary when the companies do not take the right action.

The nations of Brazil, Malaysia, and Indonesia have all started to implement age-based digital regulations. Parental linkage would be mandatory for accounts belonging to those under the age of sixteen in Brazil, while Malaysia will also impose a similar prohibition in 2020. Indonesia is taking this one step further by allowing only those over eighteen to be users under parental approval. Meanwhile, Spain, New Zealand, and Singapore are considering rules concerning minimum ages, while Denmark is drawing up a nationwide prohibition for those aged under fifteen with certain limited exceptions. Stage Olsen expressed optimism that the regulations would someday catch up with the EU.

Thereafter, the legislation passed in Australia is there to influence the rest of the world in the same direction concerning the issue of children's safety on the internet, which might also lead to a reversal of social media access for millions of underage users around the globe.