Social media companies like TikTok and Meta will still be able to collect driver licences, passports and Digital ID to decide if someone can use their services — as long as they also offer alternative methods to determine a user’s age — under an amended teen social media ban bill.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Albanese government proposed amendments to the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 [Provisions] to head off some concerns raised by members of both major parties.
Chief among those concerns was that Australians would only be able to access social media if they provided government ID or even Digital ID to prove they were over 16 years old (in what’s known as “age assurance”).
An amended bill, if agreed to, would prohibit social media companies from only accepting government ID as a form of age verification. Companies that failed to provide alternative options such as facial image analysis or user interactions would face a fine of 30,000 penalty units (currently $9.9 million).
“There must always be a non-government or non-Digital ID option available to Australians for age assurance on each relevant platform,” the amendment’s explanatory memorandum reads.
The amendment also gives the minister the power to stop social media companies from using certain methods to determine a user’s age, leaving the door open for the government to stop platforms from using Digital ID if it chose.
The original bill mandates that any data collected for the purpose of figuring out a user’s age must be destroyed afterwards.
These changes appear to be compatible with what some major social media platforms already do to determine age, while still raising the minimum age to use these services to 16 years old.
The government has said the social media ban bill is among the dozens it is seeking to pass today, the last scheduled sitting day for the year.
The Coalition is expected to support the legislation, even as one of its senators, Matt Canavan, calls for more scrutiny on the bill and attempts to pass amendments.
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