Tech Desk 
Nov 26, 2024
Following the announcement of a bill seeking to ban social media platforms for children, tech giants Google and Meta have urged the Australian government on Tuesday to delay the bill.
If approved, the bill will validate a ban on all social media platforms for children under 16 in the country.
Regarding the delay they're seeking in the bill, the tech giants stated that they need more time to evaluate the potential impact of the ban.
Social media ban on Australia
According to Reuters, prime minister Anthony Albanese's centre-left government stands in favour of the bill, seeking its inclusion into the law by the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday.
If the gets passed, it will be one of the most stringent sanctions over children's social media use ever imposed against minors in any country.
Having tabled in parliament last week, the bill was opened for submissions of opinions for only one day.
In their submissions, Google and Meta said the government should wait till the results of an age-verification trial before moving ahead with the bill.
"In the absence of such results, neither industry nor Australians will understand the nature or scale of age assurance required by the bill, nor the impact of such measures on Australians," Meta said, adding that the bill is inconsistent and ineffective in its present form.
The age-verification system is expected to include biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media age cut-off.
The law will force social media platforms to take appropriate measures to ensure age-verification protections are undertaken, with the companies being bound to pay penalties of A$49.5 million ($32 million) for systemic breaches.
