MELBOURNE – Australia’s communications minister said Wednesday the government won’t force social media users to hand over their personal information to tech companies, as children younger than 16 are set to be banned from the platforms.
Michelle Rowland plans to introduce into Parliament on Thursday world-first legislation that would make X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram responsible for excluding Australian children younger than 16 from the platforms.
After the bill becomes law, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the ban on younger children before they face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic breaches.
How the platforms will be able to determine the ages of account holders is not yet known.
Rowland told Parliament on Wednesday the legislation will contain “robust provisions” to protect social media users’ privacy.
“This is not about government mandating any form of technology or demanding any personal information …