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A bill outlining a proposed social media ban for under 16’s has just passed the The House of Representatives. Labor, the LNP, and four independents supported the bill. The Greens opposed the ban, along with five independents and the Coalition’s Bridget Archer.

The government introduced the legislation in parliament late last week that proposed banning children under 16 from using social media, in an attempt to protect them from online harm.聽

The bill defines an 鈥渁ge-restricted social media platform鈥� as one whose sole or significant purpose is to enable users to interact socially with one another and post content online, meaning Internet giants like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok would all take a hit. However the wording is specific enough that messaging apps, gaming platforms and services with the 鈥減rimary purpose of supporting the health and education of end-users鈥� would be excluded from the ban.

鈥淭his is about protecting young people, not punishing or isolating them, and letting parents know we鈥檙e in their corner when it comes to supporting their children鈥檚 health and wellbeing,鈥� said Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.聽

The actual specifics behind the ban have been startlingly bare. While the the bill deems it to be the responsibility of the social media companies to keep under 16s off of sites, it’s very vague about how platforms should do this.

The bill states “it is expected that, at a minimum, the obligation will require platforms to implement some form of age assurance, as a means of identifying whether a prospective or existing account holder is an Australian child under the age of 16 years.”

The legislation does however specify the consequences of failing to do so: fines up to $50 million.

Lack of support for social media ban from experts

The government has faced extensive criticism not only for its lack of structure of the social media ban bill, but also for attempting to rush it through Parliament during the last few days of sitting.

In an attempt to placate the public and key stakeholders, the government accepted submissions on the bill for 24 hours, and held a one-day inquiry on Monday. Over 15,000 submissions were received, and all but one of the witnesses at the inquiry opposed the bill.

On Tuesday, the Coalition said that the government agreed to amending the bill to prevent social media platforms from needing government-issued ID, such as passports or proof聽 Conceof age cards, nor could they exppect digital identification through a government system.

The bill will now go to the Senate and, if they decide to pass it, social media companies will have one year to implement age restrictions before penalties are applied.

Concerns have been raised about the ways marginalised and isolated youth are going to cope with the ban, especially for those who queer and/or gender diverse, disabled, or are othered in some other way.