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Australia is banning social media for kids under 16. How will it work?
BBC News ^ | November 20, 2025 | By Helen Livingstone

Posted on 11/20/2025 6:24:28 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

From 10 December, social media companies will have to take "reasonable steps" to ensure that under-16s in Australia cannot set up accounts on their platforms and that existing accounts are deactivated or removed.

The government says the ban - a world-first policy popular with many parents - is aimed at reducing the "pressures and risks" children can be exposed to on social media, which come from "design features that encourage them to spend more time on screens, while also serving up content that can harm their health and wellbeing".

A study commissioned by the government earlier this year said 96% of children aged 10-15 used social media and that seven out of 10 of them had been exposed to harmful content and behaviour. This behaviour ranged from misogynistic material to fight videos and content promoting eating disorders and suicide.

One in seven also reported experiencing grooming-type behaviour from adults or older children, and more than half said they had been the victims of cyberbullying.

Children and parents will not be punished for infringing the ban - it is social media companies who are charged with enforcing it, and they face fines of up to $49.5m (US$32m, £25m) for serious or repeated breaches.

The government says these companies must take "reasonable steps" to keep kids off their platforms, and use age assurance technologies - without specifying which ones.

Critics argue that the ban, even if properly implemented, will not actually reduce online harm for children. Dating websites and gaming platforms are not included, and nor are AI chatbots, which have recently made headlines for allegedly encouraging children to commit suicide and for having "sensual" conversations with minors.

Others point out that teens who rely on social media for community will be left isolated …

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: media; social

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1 posted on 11/20/2025 6:24:28 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Smart kids will be running rings around it in no time.


2 posted on 11/20/2025 6:28:48 PM PST by coydog (Time to feed the pigs!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Just a stealth way of getting a universal ID.


3 posted on 11/20/2025 6:30:23 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (I have no answers. Only questions.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

This is supposed to be the parents’ job.


4 posted on 11/20/2025 6:31:58 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
How will it work?


5 posted on 11/20/2025 6:36:51 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: coydog

Even the dumb ones will figure it out.


6 posted on 11/20/2025 6:47:03 PM PST by Dutch Boy (The only thing worse than having something taken from you is to have it returned broken. )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The Crown really doesn’t want people to learn and share truths.


7 posted on 11/20/2025 6:49:33 PM PST by T.B. Yoits
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Have do it so they can continue with the Global Warming Scam , they’ll ban everyone else later


8 posted on 11/20/2025 7:17:08 PM PST by butlerweave (Fateh)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Worked for my kids.


9 posted on 11/20/2025 7:22:48 PM PST by BobL (Trusting one's doctor is the #1 health mistake one can make.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Government should not make this unilateral decision, this is the parents’ sphere of decision making.


10 posted on 11/20/2025 7:39:13 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Parental rights elimination

Digital id

There are overlapping multiple goals. Always more than one. Always.


11 posted on 11/20/2025 7:39:58 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Exactly.


12 posted on 11/20/2025 7:54:11 PM PST by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

A good way to get all those kids off their butts ... and out in the streets protesting the government.


13 posted on 11/20/2025 7:57:26 PM PST by TigersEye (Terrorism has been institutionalized by the left. Ask no quarter. Give no quarter.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

They’ll just create their own clandestine sites.


14 posted on 11/20/2025 8:10:31 PM PST by SkyDancer ( ~ Am Yisrael Chai ~)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

“ it’s for the children.”


15 posted on 11/20/2025 9:26:21 PM PST by Redcitizen
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To: Telepathic Intruder

Correct.


16 posted on 11/20/2025 9:44:03 PM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: Secret Agent Man

Agreed.


17 posted on 11/20/2025 9:44:53 PM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

for those commenting nit’s a parent’s job, don’t schools use computers, and maybe at times have their class connect with other schools or groups through computers? schools are a big part of how kids got into using computers and through that social media. been going on for decades.


18 posted on 11/21/2025 1:14:52 AM PST by b4me (Pray, and let God change you. He knows better than you or anyone else, who He made you to be.)
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