Albanese takes social media ban to the UN as gaming platforms targeted

Platforms popular with young gamers — such as Roblox, Lego Play, Discord, Steam, and Twitch — could fall under the under-16s social media ban, the eSafety Commissioner has warned.

The ABC has revealed an expanded list of platforms that have been contacted by eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant to mount their cases for exemption in writing before the legislation comes into effect in December.

Snapchat, Tiktok, Youtube, Meta’s platforms, and X have been expected to fall within scope for some time. Now the above gaming platforms — plus Pinterest, streaming platform Kick, coding platform GitHub, scheduling app HubApp, and dating apps Tinder and OK Cupid — will also have to prove they should be exempt from the laws.

They are required to do so by using eSafety’s “self-assessment tool”.

Inman Grant told the ABC “there are some that are pretty clear, [but] we still had to give them the due diligence process.”

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Earlier this week, Mumbrellla revealed that Discord had begun rolling out a new age verification feature, requiring users upload a government ID or a video of themselves. The move was met with fury among users.

Elon Musk’s X has also raised a red flag regarding the legalities, citing “serious concerns as to the lawfulness of the Social Media Minimum Age, including its compatibility with other regulations and laws, including international human rights treaties to which Australia is a signatory” in its response to a Greens-led inquiry on the ban.

“We are especially concerned about the potential negative impact that the Social Media Minimum Age will have on the human rights of children and young people, including their rights to freedom of expression and access to information, principles which are enshrined in international treaties … and which must be protected.”

The submission also points out that less than 1% of its users are under 16.

Musk has been outspoken about the ban before.

“Seems like a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians,” he wrote in response to a tweet from Albanese last November.

Elon Musk’s X believes the u16s social media ban contravenes international treaties, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

This resistance comes as Anthony Albanese delivered a speech to the United Nations overnight, touting the world-first legislation.

“On the 10th of December, Australia will introduce social media age restrictions that go further than any country has before,” the Prime Minister said during the address.

“Not cutting access to publicly available content, but delaying the ability to set up social media accounts from the current age of 13, until the age of 16.”

Albanese declared this “a sensible but overdue step to protect young Australians at a critical stage of their development, giving them three more years to build real world connections and online resilience.”

He said it would allow them to “get better at spotting the fakes and the dangers, at learning the difference between online followers and real friends, and at becoming more adept at avoiding the pressures of measuring themselves against impossible standards.

“Three more years of being shaped by real life experience, not algorithms, and developing the increased maturity and the perspective that will allow them to shrug off what, a couple of years earlier, might have felt overwhelming.

“It’s the right thing to do by children, and it is the right thing to do by parents. It isn’t foolproof, but it is a crucial step in the right direction.”

The European Union commission Ursula von der Leyen said during her own address she was “been inspired by Australia’s example,” adding: “You’re the first to give this a try.”

The commission indicated the EU would follow suit, saying she will “establish a panel of experts to assess what steps make sense at the European level”.

“We all agree that young people should reach a certain age before they smoke or drink or have access to adult content. And the same can be said for social media,” she said, calling the legislation “common sense”.

She elaborated on X, sharing a video of her speech, and writing: “Europe is ready to take on cyberbullying and the addictive designs that trap children in endless scrolling. We need to protect our children. We’ll assess what steps we can take at EU level. We will learn from Australia’s best practices.”

In early September, von der Leyen said during a parliament speech that “our friends in Australia are pioneering a social media restriction. I am watching the implementation of their policy closely to see what next steps we can take here in Europe.

“Because when it comes to our kids’ safety online, Europe believes in parents, not profits.”

There are over 65 million children under 16 living in the 27 countries that make up the European Union.

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