Australia plans to strengthen under-16s social media ban

- Australia is moving to tighten proposed legislation that would ban children under 16 from using social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, with no exemptions for parental consent — making it one of the world's strictest age-based internet restrictions. - The ban would place the legal burden on tech companies to enforce the age limit, rather than on parents or children, with fines for systemic non-compliance. - The move follows growing political pressure in several countries to combat harms to youth mental health linked to social media use, such as cyberbullying, sleep disruption, and exposure to harmful content. - Australia has previously clashed with tech giants over content regulation, including a landmark 2021 law forcing platforms to pay news publishers for linking to their content. - Critics raise concerns about enforcement feasibility, privacy risks from age-verification systems, and the potential to drive young users to less regulated parts of the internet.