It's Official: Australia's Social Media Ban

SOCIAL MEDIA BAN OVERVIEW
Well, it's official! Australia has become the first country in the world to ban kids and teens under the age of 16 from using some social media platforms. This morning, the government approved the world's strictest social media laws. You see, back in September it decided it wanted to ban young people from using social media to protect them from things like negative body image, cyber bullying and inappropriate content. And came up with a plan to make social media companies take more responsibility for their own platforms. So what's actually going to be banned? Well, the government is still coming out with a full list. But Communications Minister, Michelle Rowland, says we can expect to see Snapchat, TikTok, X, Instagram, Reddit and Facebook on the chopping block for under 16s. While some messaging apps like WhatsApp and Messenger Kids, online games, and services supporting health and education will still be allowed, as well as sites like KZbin, that you don't need to have an account for to use. Now that the ban is law, lots of people are waiting to see how it's all actually going to work. We know that it'll be up to social media companies to figure out how to keep under 16s off their platforms or risk facing fines of up to $50 Million dollars! But there's still a lot we don't know, like how they're going to verify everyone's age and stop young people from finding ways around the ban. And they've got 12 month to figure it all out.
SOCIAL MEDIA BAN CRITICS
While the main point of the social media ban is to protect young people from the harms social media can cause, not everyone is sure that it's the right idea. Yeah, there are plenty of people who aren't keen on this new ban and it isn't just the politicians yelling at each other. This is Leo Puglisi, and he runs a teen streaming news channel called 6 News. He says that social media has been a massive part of following his dream and allowing other teens to do the same. Others, like Latisha here say it helps her stay connected to family and friends who live far away. While some have found online communities, and are worried about the massive impact the ban might have.
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