The ban on social media for minors in Australia gets underway (with some missteps)

The much-vaunted social media ban for under-16s has come into force in Australiaalthough his debut has been weighed down by quite a few setbacks.

The veto, which has been the subject of heated debates inside and outside Australia in recent months, became effective this Wednesday in the oceanic country. However, Its application has not brought about changes as radical as one might soon assume. (revealing some cracks in the legislation passed last year by the Australian Government).

In Australia, children and adolescents under 16 years of age are not authorized to access large 2.0 platforms with their own accounts as of this Wednesday.. However, many of the young people directly affected by the ban are managing to circumvent the veto (and are therefore not noticing major changes in their use of social networks).

Some of the platforms directly affected by the restrictions (Reddit and TikTok) have been filled in recent hours with publications in which Minors under 16 years of age boast of having broken the prohibition by bullfighting.

On TikTok, a minor under 16 years old addressed, for example, the Prime Minister of Australia in the following terms:: «Dear Anthony Albanese, I have evaded your prohibition.» And many other teenagers have assured on social networks that their accounts on the platforms affected by the restrictions are still active (despite the entry into force of the veto).

Many minors under 16 years of age have boasted in the last few hours of having circumvented the ban

Numerous comments in which the phrase can be read «I’m still here» They have also made their way into a video published on TikTok by the Australian Prime Minister in which he showers the new legislation with flattery.

The Australian Executive had previously warned that not all affected accounts would be blocked immediately on December 10 (which is when the ban has come into force). The platforms affected by the ban are ten and among them are Instagram, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, X, Reddit and Twitch.

The controversial legislation aimed at “locking” social networks for those under 16 years of age was approved at the end of last year and it finally came into force this Monday despite fierce criticism from opponents of the veto and a lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court of Australia.

Almost all the major parties sought support for Albanese’s legislative initiative in Parliament. And after the legislation was approved, the affected platforms were given a period of twelve months to implement the restrictions.

The ultimate objective of the ban is to protect young people from the risks associated with the use of social networks. such as “cyberbullying” and the consumption of content that can ultimately have a negative impact on the mental and physical health of adolescents.

In an interview recently given to 7News Prime Minister Albanese confessed that the legislation was not perfect, but that it would still be seen by many as an example to follow. “We are world leaders in this area and the world will follow Australia’s example,” Albanese stressed.