Social media ban for children introduced in Australian Parliament

Michelle Rowland introduces the Online Safety Amendment Bill (Mick Tsikas/AAP/AP)

Australia’s communications minister has introduced a world-first law into Parliament that would ban children younger than 16 from social media, saying online safety was one of parents’ toughest challenges.

Michelle Rowland said TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram were among the platforms that would face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (£25.7 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.