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In preparation for the social media age ban, the Albanese government has launched a campaign to notify the Australian community of what the new restrictions will mean.
The Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA) scheme, which was first passed in November last year, is set to come into effect on 10 December, requiring those signing up to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and more to be 16 years of age or older.
As the date of the ban coming into effect approaches, the federal government has released a “national education campaign” called “For The Good Of” that will appear on TV and radio, informing Australians of the social media age restrictions.
“The purpose of this law is clear – this is about creating cultural change so that young Australians have three more years to build real-world connections and online resilience,” said Minister for Communications Anika Wells.
“This national education campaign will spread awareness about the changes coming for all Australian families.
“Parents and carers are encouraged to start having conversations about these new laws with their families to help them prepare.”
The campaign includes radio, TV and other coverage, with the simple message of “from 10 December, you will need to be 16 or over to have an account on social media”.
From 19 October, additional resources developed by the eSafety Commissioner will also be available online.
The education campaign closely follows new guidance released by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) outlining the responsibilities of social media platforms and age assurance providers.
“Today, we’re putting age-restricted social media platforms on notice,” privacy commissioner Carly Kind said last week.
“The OAIC is here to guard and uplift the privacy protections of all Australians by ensuring that the age assurance methods used by age-restricted social media platforms and age assurance providers are lawful.”
The new OAIC guidance outlines a number of responsibilities, such as for social media organisations to choose “age assurance methods that are necessary and proportionate” as well as vetting them for privacy risks and impacts, minimising the inclusion of personal and sensitive data, destroying information collected for SMMA purposes (not including information the social media platforms have already collected for other reasons), ensuring that other use of the data is purely consensual and remaining transparent about how the data is used.
“The OAIC is committed to ensuring the successful rollout of the SMMA regime by robustly applying and regulating the privacy rules contained in the legislation, in order to reassure the Australian community that their privacy is protected,” Kind said.
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