‘A lot of unresolved questions’: Social media age limits might not pass this week
Both the Coalition and the Greens have raised serious doubts about legislation being rushed through parliament this week, imposing age limits to social media, with concerns about privacy and digital identification as well as the speed at which the bill is advancing.
Although the laws are expected to have bipartisan support as the government rushes it through the final sitting week of parliament, Nationals frontbencher, Bridget McKenzie, this week said there were still concerns about privacy.
“We want to make sure we get strong, robust laws that don’t damage privacy and make compulsory Australians having to have digital IDs,” she said. “But we do want strong, robust laws to protect kids under 16 on social media platforms.
“We need to get the legislation right so it does actually get the outcomes we want. And we need to make sure that those protections exist in the legislation.”
The Australia reports a two-hour Coalition partyroom meeting on Tuesday afternoon saw 19 Coalition MPs speak in favour of the legislation. Nationals senator Matt Canavan and Liberal senator Alex Antic both stated they were prepared to cross the floor. Canavan will oppose the ban unless amendments are made, while Antic will oppose it regardless.
Matt Canavan
Nationals MP Keith Pitt may also cross the floor, while two other Liberal MPs are undecided.
The bill has been widely criticised due to the rushed process – an inquiry consisted of just one three-hour meeting, held on Monday, with a report handed down the following deal. The law won’t go into effect for another year, raising questions as to why the bill is being rushed through this week.
Labor’s Amanda Rishworth said Dutton’s senators were “defying him” by going against the bill at the eleventh hour.
“Just a couple of weeks ago, Peter Dutton said he would facilitate this important piece of legislation and support the government,” she said.
“Now we see senators defying him. So, this is a test for Peter Dutton.”
“The government’s deal with Dutton to ram through a social media age ban in under a week is rushed, reckless and goes against the evidence,” Greens communications spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said on Monday.
She said recent inquiries into social media found “an age ban will not make social media safer for anyone. It is complicated to implement and will have unintended consequences for young people”.
Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather told ABC’s RN Breakfast this morning the three-hour inquiry was “farcical”.
“We have a 24-hour period for submissions to be made on a highly complex bill that has a lot of unresolved questions,” he said.
“For example, how are they going to do age verification? Will that involve everyone in Australia who uses social media, including adults providing ID?”
Tasmanian senator, Jacqui Lambie, also called the three-hour hearing “shameful” on RN Breakfast on Tuesday morning, saying the government was “trying to ram something down our throats instead of getting it right”.
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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