Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged some young people were still on social media a day after a world-first ban on under-16s went live, saying the rollout was always going to be bumpy but would ultimately save lives.
A day after the law took effect with bipartisan support from the major political parties and backing by some three-quarters of Australian parents, the country¡¯s 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 platforms, including TikTok, Meta¡¯s Instagram and Alphabet¡¯s YouTube, must bar underage users or face a fine of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($33 million). The government has said it would take some time for the platforms to set up processes to do this.
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