Australia's social media ban for children under 16 to take effect from Wednesday

From Wednesday, platforms the Australian government has included in the ban will need to deactivate all accounts for users under 16 and prevent them holding an account until after they turn 16.

A ban on social media for children under the age of 16 in Australia has taken effect, as a minister here said Ireland “is not, not considering” following suit.

From Wednesday, platforms the Australian government has included in the ban will need to deactivate all accounts for users under 16 and prevent them holding an account until after they turn 16.

The Australian eSafety commissioner must be satisfied the platforms have taken “reasonable steps” to prevent under-16s from holding an account on the platform, or they will face a fine of up to €28m.

The ban applies to popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X, YouTube, and Twitch.

Australian communications minister Annika Wells has defended the plan, saying it was strongly supported by parents to address mental health, bullying, and online addiction among children.

“We now have so much data and evidence about what is happening to our kids online that we feel we must act,” she said.

Last week, Ireland’s Coimisiún na Meán signed a memorandum of understanding with Australia’s eSafety Commissioner to work together on combating online harms, but Ireland is not yet committed to taking the same route with a ban on social media for under-16s.

On the way into Cabinet on Tuesday, communications minister Patrick O’Donovan said he was bringing a memo on a new “robust system of age verification” he hopes to have up and running next year, taking the form of an “online wallet” that can prove what age a person is.

“We’re not, not considering it,” Mr O'Donovan said, when asked about the Australia ban.

"One of the key cornerstones of our [EU] presidency next year will be the protection of the child online. I've already said that to EU colleagues. It has been well received, but we hold an Australia-type ban in reserve if we have to."

Mr O’Donovan said it would be “quite foolhardy” of anybody to push back against a mechanism a country would bring in to protect a child or a vulnerable adult online.

He added: “I think tech companies could have done an awful lot of this themselves. Over the last number of years, they decided not to. They've left it to sovereign governments and the European Union to do it.

We've been left with no other choice. We know from parents, we know from guardians, we know from teachers, the vulnerability of children. If there are tech companies that want to push back against protecting children online, I'd love to hear it.

It comes as Elon Musk and his social media company X filed papers in the High Court for a judicial review against regulator Coimisiún na Meán, against the backdrop of an investigation launched into the social media platform by Ireland’s regulator last month, and several other legal battles in recent times.

X was fined €120m by the European Commission last week for breaching its legal obligations, prompting a furious reaction from Mr Musk and support for him from the US Government.