Australia Defends Social Media Ban for Under-16s
Kirra Pendergast defended Australia's social media restrictions for users under 16, stating the law penalizes platforms rather than children or parents.
Australia has implemented world-first social media restrictions for users under 16, shifting the legal burden of digital safety from families to platforms. Kirra Pendergast, founder of Safe on Social and adviser for the Age Assurance Technology Trial, defended the policy following a CBS 60 Minutes investigation. She clarified that the law does not penalize children, parents, or schools, but instead imposes potential fines of up to A$109.2 million on social media companies that fail to prevent underage accounts.
The initiative originated in South Australia under Premier Peter Malinauskas to establish a community standard for childhood online safety. Early data shows the number of 10- to 15-year-olds with accounts fell by approximately one-fifth during the first three months of implementation.
Despite this decline, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant reported that corporate compliance has not met expectations. Pendergast argued that this failure stems from a lack of corporate will rather than technological limitations, noting that companies such as Apple and Roblox have successfully implemented age checks when it served their own interests.
