For several years now, the place of adolescents on social networks has been closely scrutinized by the authorities… but also by the social networks themselves. Recently, Meta deployed a new “Teen Account” function to allow young people to have a more secure account, with the added bonus of tools dedicated to parents to avoid (as much as possible) any form of abuse. In Australia, we will introduce legislation aimed at prohibiting access to social networks for under 16s.
Social networks soon banned for under 16s
Indeed, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pledged to crack down on technology companies that do not protect young users, not sufficiently in any case. “This is a measure for mothers and fathers. Social media does a lot of harm to children and I decided to put an end to it” he explains.
The measure will be presented to the leaders of Australian states and territories this week, before being submitted to Parliament at the end of November. In fact, the measure should come into force twelve months after its adoption, then applying to all the main platforms, whether you are a fan of Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, the X network and/or Threads .
It remains to be seen what verification system will be put in place to check the age of users, with some already calling into question their effectiveness, in addition to certain technical problems making them too easy to circumvent, not to mention the risks linked to privacy. users. For their part, applications will also have to implement reasonable measures to prevent access to minors as much as possible.
And in France? In our country, the numerical majority has been set at 15 years. This aims to protect children from social networks by ensuring that the platforms put in place a technical solution when they register, as well as to better prevent and prosecute online crimes, such as cyberharassment.
It is estimated that more than 60% of young people under the age of 13 have at least one account on a social network.
