MUSK BLASTS AUSTRALIA’S PLANNED BAN ON CHILDREN’S SOCIAL MEDIA – Australia’s left-wing government introduced the bill in parliament.
Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X, criticised Australia’s proposed law to ban social media for children under 16 and fine social media platforms of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million) for companies for systemic breaches.
Australia’s left-wing government introduced the bill in parliament on Thursday. It plans to try an age-verification system to enforce a social media age cut-off, which is one of the toughest control measures imposed by any country to date.
“Seems like a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians,” Musk, who views himself as a champion of free speech, said in a reply to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s post on X about the bill.
Several countries have already vowed to curb social media use by children through legislation, but Australia’s policy could become one of the most stringent with no exemption for parental consent and pre-existing accounts.
