The Australian government will impose millions of dollars in fines on social media companies that fail to prevent citizens under the age of 16 from using their services. Australia’s ruling Labor Party introduced a bill in Parliament on Thursday, under which the minimum age limit for using social media has been set at 16 years."text-align: justify;">According to the report of news agency Xinhua, under this law, the responsibility of enforcing the minimum age limit will be on social media companies instead of children, parents or guardians. The social media companies which will fail to enforce the age limit rule. He will have to pay a fine of up to 50 million Australian dollars (32.5 million US dollars).
Communications Minister Michel Rolland said this
Communications Minister Michel Rolland, introducing the bill, told Parliament, "Its purpose is to protect youth, not punish or isolate them, and to let parents know that we are with them when it comes to the health and well-being of their children." Rowland said online gaming would be exempt from the ban as it is already regulated by the age classification scheme and including them would create unnecessary overlap. He said that messaging services will also be kept out of it.
Opposition also supported
The federal opposition has expressed support for this legislation, which means it is likely to be passed with an overwhelming majority in both houses of Parliament. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had earlier said that the new law would take effect at least 12 months after it is passed by Parliament. The government has not clarified how the age of social media users will be verified, but said it would be informed by a trial of ‘age verification technology’ funded in the May federal budget. The minimum age limit will be enforced by the office of the e-Security Commissioner of the Government.
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