AUSTRALIA WILL REQUIRE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TO ACT TO PREVENT ONLINE HARM TO USERS

Australia plans to require social media platforms to act to prevent online harms to users such as bullying, predatory behavior and algorithms pushing destructive content, the government said Thursday.

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“The Digital Duty of Care will place the onus on digital platforms to proactively keep Australians safe and better prevent online harms,” Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said in a statement.

The proposed changes to the Online Safety Act were announced before the government next week introduces to Parliament world-first legislation that would ban children younger than 16 from platforms including X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Critics have argued that removing children from social media reduced incentives for platforms to provide safer online environments.

Social media has been blamed for an increase in children taking their own lives and developing eating disorders due to bulling and exposures to negative body images.