An Australian Senate committee has backed a bill that would ban social media for children under 16 but said social media platforms should not force users to submit personal data such as passport and other digital identification to prove their age.

An Australian Senate committee has endorsed a proposed law to prohibit social media use for children under 16 but recommended against platforms requiring sensitive personal data, such as

The passage of the bill leaves it to Australia's Senate to take the next step in finalizing the world-first law.

The Australian Senate committee endorses a bill that seeks to bar social media access for children under 16. The bill, backed by both major political parties, would enforce age verification using methods like biometrics.

The legislation would impose fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) on platforms for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.

Australia passes a groundbreaking bill banning under-16s from social media. The legislation aims to enforce fines on platforms like TikTok and Facebook for failing to prevent young users. Critics argue it won’t effectively address social media harms and could create privacy risks.

Australia plans to trial an age-verification system that may include biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media age cut-off, some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date.

An advocate for major social media platforms has told Australia’s Parliament that a plan to ban children younger than 16 from the sites should be delayed rather than being rushed to approval this week