Australia wants to lead the big tech crackdown
It is more likely to be an example of how not to go about banning social media
OF THE 31 bills rushed through Australia’s Senate on November 29th, one drew attention. An amendment to the country’s Online Safety Act will ban under-16s from social media from next year. Under the law, platforms that fail to take “reasonable steps” to verify the age of users can be fined up to A$50m ($32m). “The whole world is watching,” crowed Anthony Albanese, the centre-left Labor prime minister, as the column inches multiplied.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Exemplar, or warning?”
From the December 7th 2024 edition
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