Australia’s House of Representatives has finally passed a bill banning social media for children under 16 years old.The bill will now proceed to the Senate for approval before becoming law.

The major political parties in Australia have supported the bill that will hold social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram accountable. These platforms could face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (approximately $33 million) if they fail to prevent children under the age of 16 from creating or holding accounts.

The legislation was passed with a vote of 102 in favour and 13 against. If the bill becomes law this week, social media platforms would be given one year to figure out how to enforce age restrictions for users under 16. After this one year, penalties will be imposed on platforms that fail to comply with the new rules.

Opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan told Parliament that the government agreed to changes in the Senate to improve privacy protections. Platforms will not be allowed to ask users for government-issued IDs, like passports or driver's licenses.

Tehan stated, “Will it be perfect? No. But is any law perfect? No, it’s not. But if it helps, even if it helps in just the smallest of ways, it will make a huge difference to people’s lives.”The Senate will debate on the bill later on Wednesday and it is guaranteed, the bill will be passed by the Senate as no party holds majority seats in the Senate, said Communication minister Michelle Rowland. 

The bill has also faced a lot of criticism due to lack of scrutiny. Critics argued that it may not be effective, could create privacy risks for users of all ages, and would grant too much authority to parents. Apart from this, the ban would isolate children, keep them away from its positive aspects, and push children to go through dark webs which is even more dangerous.

Independent lawmaker Zoe Daniel stated that the legislation would not address the fundamental harms that are inherent in social media.The platforms asked for the vote on the law to be delayed until June next year. This would give time for a government report on how age-checking technologies could help enforce the ban.