Social media ban under 16 in Australia

[chuft]

Fairy-Possum if you look at the text of the compiled Online Safety Act 2021,

https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2021A00076/latest/text

you will see at the top it says

Online Safety Act 2021

No. 76, 2021

Compilation No. 2

Compilation date: 14 October 2024

Includes amendments: Act No. 39, 2024

So it looks like the original Act has been amended and recompiled to show the latest language twice. The last amendment was from Act 39, 2024, which is

https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2024A00039/asmade/text

This Act amends a lot of other Acts. This type of law tends to be known as a technical corrections law, it does not make a lot of new policy, it just cleans up/renames small things in other Acts.

It is an "amending Act" rather than an "in force Act". If you search it for "Online Safety" you will find the amendments it makes to the Online Safety Act:

Online Safety Act 2021

59 Section 220 (heading)

Omit “Administrative Appeals Tribunal”, substitute “Administrative Review Tribunal”.

60 Section 220

Omit “Administrative Appeals Tribunal” (wherever occurring), substitute “Administrative Review Tribunal”.

These are quite technical corrections/changes. Nothing exciting there.



The bill I linked

https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo...lication%2Fpdf

whose info is here

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary...sult?bId=r7284


was passed by both Houses on Nov 29. So obviously that was after the Oct 14 date on which the previous version of the Online Safety Act was compiled. That tells you the version linked at the top of this post can't possibly contain the latest Act amending it.


Notice this bill says "No. , 2024". There is a space where the Act number should be. That's because it's not yet an Act.

This latest bill does not yet have an Act number so you will find no such Act if you searched for it, just the bill. It has not been assented to by the Crown (some weird Commonwealth/Australian language, in reality the Governor-General does the assenting). Technically it is not a law yet. In theory the Governor-General could refuse to sign it, in practice, that never happens. The Crown is a figurehead nowadays and has no real power over Parliament.

https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-pa...use-to-sign-it


Once it is signed by the Governor-General, it will become an Act, with Act number, and it will modify the 2021 Act, and be law. At some point that site I linked will do another compilation of the Online Safety Act 2021 and this time it will say it is the third compilation and includes this latest bill (though at that point it will have matured into an Act, and maybe put on some weight).


Just a little legal research lesson.

[chuft]

I'm hoping the law is similar to one you linked. I could live as long as I am allowed to own a channel

I would not get your hopes up. Section 63D of the Bill says

63D Civil penalty for failing to take reasonable steps to prevent
age-restricted users having accounts

A provider of an age-restricted social media platform must take
reasonable steps to prevent age-restricted users having accounts
with the age-restricted social media platform.

and

63E Delayed effect of requirement to take reasonable steps to
prevent age-restricted users having accounts

(1) Section 63D takes effect on a day specified in an instrument under
subsection (2) of this section.

(2) The Minister may, by notifiable instrument, specify a day for the
purposes of subsection (1).

(3) The specified day must not be later than 12 months after the day
this section commences.

(4) To avoid doubt, the obligation in section 63D applies in relation to
accounts with an age-restricted social media platform if the
accounts exist on or after the day section 63D takes effect
(including accounts that began to exist before that day, and
accounts that began to exist before the day this section
commences).

Note 63E, subsection 4. There is no exclusion for pre-existing accounts.

[possessor]

I hate the law.

[Play_z]

Here’s YouTube’s statement about the ban

[possessor]

Here’s YouTube’s statement about the ban

OH MY GOD WHY IS THIS MY LIFE


YouTube, please get off your butts and stick to your word for the first time in your life

[Play_z]

I’m going to quietly add this here…

[boredjedi]

RIP Australian 16 and under

[possessor]

they're banning literally everything. YouTube. Tumblr. Tiktok. Snapchat. Twitter. Roblox. Minecraft. This is ridiculous. I hope all those stupid people who voted for it stub their toes

[Play_z]

they're banning literally everything. YouTube. Tumblr. Tiktok. Snapchat. Twitter. Roblox. Minecraft. This is ridiculous. I hope all those stupid people who voted for it stub their toes

Well if true, you still have I guess this forum website. As for me I’ll be just one month older when the ban is said to be placed meaning I’m already too old to be banned from all social media because of the law only being under 16

[chuft]

The word "ban" is being thrown around to get attention and clicks, but as I said before, the law does not ban anything. It restricts underage users from having accounts.

https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2021A00076/latest/text

"Providers of certain kinds of social media platforms must take reasonable steps to prevent children who have not reached a minimum age from having accounts."

This does not stop you from viewing any of these sites, unless they stop it themselves by requiring an account, in which case, the heck with them. I highly doubt YouTube would do this because they get ad revenue whether you have an account or not.

It will not stop teachers from using it for educational purposes, that video is just sensationalized disinformation.

I have used YouTube without an account for decades. Use a browser other than Chrome, with uBlock Origin, and you will see no ads. In fact I think account users can't do this, you actually get a much better viewing experience with no account since you can block ads and there is nothing they can do about it.

[possessor]

Well, you need an account to post videos.. which is pretty much half my activity on YouTube

[chuft]

RIP

[possessor]

Very reassuring comment

[LazyPooky]

Why did the teacher even said that he uses YouTube videos in class. There's no restriction for him to use it in class. It's about the kids that watches videos without guidance, there the restriction is for. In my country, much older children, or almost adults now, say they regret starting social media at such a young age and are in favor of restrictions. While the adults/parents themselves still do not understand the negative impact social media can have on your life.

[Play_z]

The thing is most parents still want YouTube as a teaching tool at home. Sure, you can use AI and stuff but some kids just don’t get it without the physical explanation, which is what YouTube can be helpful for. Maybe, if the child is homeschooled, there’s no teacher but the parents to help. Not all parents can figure out a high school math problem by themselves without using a YouTube video to teach their kids how to do it. Though if I were to study math for an exam. Yes again I can use AI to make that math problem, I’ve been struggling on. But I didn’t understand how the teacher did it (maybe they’re way was to confusing or I just don’t get it). Now since I rather the physical explanation way of how to get teach. YouTube can be very handy in that way.

As for freedom on the whole internet, online safety does play a big role. Which is why the law is getting in place for the first time. If I can remember correctly, she does a survey with her views to see if they were told about online safety. And to see if their parents care about it or not. In one of the her surveys she did, it showed a dramatic decline for online safety. Yes, it can be the parent’s faults in most cases. But some parents who were born and already grown up without the internet. Don’t know what the internet can be like. As for the parents who did grew up with the internet should know what the internet can already be like. Then there’s the actual kids faults. The kids…. They do not care about sharing private information, talking to strangers and believing what’s is online. They will always, somehow be getting some type of device in their hands (even means making mostly private VPN’s to bypass the law if they older enough to know).

[chuft]

The law will not prevent parents from having accounts, nor prevent kids from watching YouTubes. It just prevents kids from having YouTube accounts.

[boredjedi]

There's Always A Way

[Play_z]

It’s a wait and see thing. Who knows… news reports keep saying they will have AI to predict if your older enough

[chuft]

Old enough to have an account.

[possessor]

But it doesn't say anything about YouTube recreations like Bitview or Wevidi... Or personal websites .. or blogs..

[Play_z]

But it doesn't say anything about YouTube recreations like Bitview or Wevidi... Or personal websites .. or blogs..

Your maybe in luck, if those don’t get ban. There’s websites like these forums for example Spacehey and Fandom where you can socialise and stuff. Never heard them get called out to get ban. Honestly, I think the “popular” social media platforms are the only ones getting banned for under 16s.