Reportedly the toughest restrictions for any democracy in the world, the ban aims to deal with the effects of excessive social media use on children's physical and mental well-being.
Dr. Adriana Stacey, ScreenStrong's medical advisor who helps families fight the "toxic effects of screens," says X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Reddit will be affected. YouTube will not.
"Our hope is that this sort of burden would fall on the parents – that the parents would be the ones that would really help their kids kind of go in the right direction when it comes to overuse of screens and appropriate age for social media," she tells AFN. "The stance that I hold as a psychiatrist is that I want this to be on the parents."
But noting that the government has stepped in to help parents navigate smoking, alcohol, and seat belt use, Dr. Stacey adds that government intervention is not uncommon "when the parents can't or don't step up to the plate to do what's best for their kids."
Meanwhile, kids can easily provide a fake birthday and sign up for social media. In the United States, for example, users under age 13 are not allowed to be on any social media platform, but seven-year-olds are on TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. She is not sure how will Australia enforce this new ban.
"I don't know the answer to that," Dr. Stacey confesses. "I do know that they've said they'll have huge fines."
She mentions having read a CBS article that said social media companies found to be in violation of the ban will face fines of up to $33 million for not following these rules.
"I think that one thing that's important for families to do is to recognize that just because your kids' friends are using social media, video games, and other toxic screens doesn't mean that you have to," Dr. Stacey concludes.
Australia's new ban is reportedly set to take effect in one year.
