What Australia's social media ban for children could mean as Quebec eyes similar legislation

A young girl uses her phone while sitting on a bench in Sydney, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Australia is setting the precedent, banning social media for children under 16.

The Australian Senate passed the ban on Thursday, which is set to become a world-first law.

It could become a model for other jurisdictions, such as Quebec, which is strongly considering following suit.

The provincial government decided last spring to study the possibility of setting a minimum age for social media accounts to combat the mental health impacts of social media use among young people. It has seen its fair share of pushback.

"Social media is not, by definition, 100 per cent negative," said technology analyst Carmi Levy. "There are valid reasons for kids to be using them."

He adds it's healthy for the province to be discussing this, but doesn't think it's a realistic possibility.

"It has been the domain of federal governments to introduce legislation like this, and I do hope that Quebec's initiative serves as a signal to Ottawa to do the same thing at a federal level."

The Australian law will make platforms including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and X (formerly Twitter) liable for fines of up to $50 million AUD ($45 million CAD) for failing to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts. Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat currently require users to be at least 13 years old.

"This puts big tech companies on notice. The way they do business and the way they particularly treat children needs to change," said Levy. "They're going to need to invest in some very significant technologies and processes over the next year to make that happen."

"The companies are going to pay what looks like to us a very significant price ... if they don't comply," Levy said. "For example, Meta is a company that pulled in about $185 billion in ad revenues last year. It's a drop in the bucket to companies like this."

Australia's legislation requires social media platforms to take steps to keep users under 16 years old out but is yet to specify what those steps entail. Platforms will have a year to work out how they can implement the ban before penalties are enforced.

Quebec said it will continue to look into how a minimum age limit on social media could go into effect after the holidays. A report is expected to be published by May 2025.

The province banned cellphones from elementary and secondary school classrooms in January, but they can still be used between classes.

Education Minister Bernard Drainville has said the government is interest in an outright ban on cellphone use in schools.