Australia moved closer on Wednesday to banning social media for children under 16 after the parliament's lower house passed a bill even as Alphabet's Google and Facebook-owner Meta pressed the government to delay the legislation.

The Australian government’s plan to ban children from social media platforms including X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram until their 16th birthdays is politically popular. The opposition party says it would have done the same after winning elections due within months if the government hadn’t moved first.

Australia's House of Representatives passes bill banning children younger than age 16 from social media. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events