Australian PM defends social media ban as teens brag about staying online

He says move will ultimately save lives while other countries weigh similar actions

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A day after the law took effect, Australian social media feeds were flooded with comments from people claiming to be under 16, including one on the Prime Minister's TikTok account saying: "I'm still here, wait until I can vote.

Under the law, 10 of the biggest social media platforms including TikTok, Meta's Instagram and Alphabet's YouTube must bar underage users or face a fine of up to A$49.5 million (S$42 million). The government has said previously that it would take some time for the platforms to set up processes to do this.

"This is the law, this isn't something that can be flouted," Mr Albanese said on News Corp's Sky News.

"Some young people who haven't yet been pulled off social media are sending out notices bragging about it. That just tells the platforms who they are, and so it will be taken down."

Governments around the world have said they would monitor the Australian rollout as they weigh whether to do something similar. US Republican senator Josh Hawley endorsed the ban as it took effect, Nine newspapers reported, while France, Denmark, Malaysia and others have already said they plan to emulate the Australian model.