EU ‘inspired’ after PM spruiks social media ban

The EU has vowed to take action on social media after Anthony Albanese spruiked Australia’s world-leading ban for under-16s at the UN.

“On the 10th of December, Australia will introduce social media age restrictions that go further than any country has before,” the Prime Minister declared in an impassioned speech overnight.

“Not cutting access to publicly available content, but delaying the ability to set up social media accounts from the current age of 13, until the age of 16.

“This is a sensible but overdue step to protect young Australians at a critical stage of their development, giving them three more years to build real world connections and online resilience.”

The extra time, Mr Albanese said, would let kids “get better at spotting the fakes and the dangers, at learning the difference between online followers and real friends, and at becoming more adept at avoiding the pressures of measuring themselves against impossible standards”.

“Three more years of being shaped by real life experience, not algorithms, and developing the increased maturity and the perspective that will allow them to shrug off what, a couple of years earlier, might have felt overwhelming,” he continued.

“It’s the right thing to do by children, and it is the right thing to do by parents.

“It isn’t foolproof, but it is a crucial step in the right direction.”

The ban comes after News Corp Australia’s Let Them Be Kids campaign, aimed at reducing the devastating impacts of social media on children.

Mr Albanese was accompanied in New York by Emma Mason – the mother of Matilda Rosewarne, who was driven to suicide at just 15 after being severely bullied online - and News Corp Australia’s Melanie Pilling.

In an emotional speech to the event, Ms Mason said one student even generated a fake nude image of her daughter, which “circulated on Snapchat, reaching at first five children, then 300 children by 4pm and, by 6pm, over 3000 children”.

In his speech, Mr Albanese said he had listened to parents share “stories of girls and boys with bright futures, only to be so overwhelmed by what got to them through their social media accounts, they saw no other way out”.

“It is an experience that affected me deeply,” he said.

“In what world should a 14-year-old be exposed to sexual extortion?

“It is a wilderness no child should know.

“It is a burden no parent should have to bear.”

Among those in the audience was European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Also addressing the event, she said Australia’s social media ban was “plain common sense” and that the EU would follow suit.

“We all agree that young people should reach a certain age before they smoke or drink or have access to adult content. And the same can be said for social media,” she said.

“And this is why I will establish a panel of experts to assess what steps make sense at the European level.”

She went on to say that as we embrace technology, it is “clarify our relationship with tech – so that it serves us.”

“I’ve been inspired by Australia’s example,” Ms von der Leyen said.

“You’re the first to give this a try.”

Under the ban, social media companies will need to verify users’ age to ensure anyone under 16 is not on their platforms.

Failure to do so would land them a $49.5m fine.