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What lawyers need to know about the new social media ban
With the Australian government imposing a ban on social media usage for teenagers under 16 years of age, a partner at a BigLaw firm discusses the implications of this legislation and how lawyers can effectively navigate this world-leading legislation.
Grace Robbie
Speaking on a recent episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, Veronica Scott, a partner at Pinsent Masons, delved into the details of the world-first social media ban Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government recently implemented and how best lawyers can respond to this legislation to serve their clients best.
Scott provided an overview of the social media ban, outlining its objective of restricting and limiting younger users’ access to specific social media platforms.
“What it does is introduce an age-restricted social media platform framework which places a ban, and that word ban, it’s a pretty blunt instrument on children or young adults under the age of 16 from being able to access certain social media platforms where it involves communication, social communications between two users,” she said.
Although the general framework for this legislation is in place, Scott said that the real challenge lies in the finer details, as the specific platforms subject to the ban have not yet been clearly defined.
“Again, like with a lot of this legislation, the framework’s been passed, and then the devil will be in the details in terms of determining which social media platforms will fall within it,” she said.
“Some are more obvious or clear and have been mentioned than others, such as Instagram and Facebook. There’s also Snapchat and a whole range of other social media platforms that have proliferated, including TikTok.”
Scott elaborated on how the framework presents substantial challenges, particularly regarding how various platforms will implement and enforce the ban.
“The real challenge will be it’s a relatively short bill to make those amendments, and in one sense, it seems pretty simple. But the devil again will be in the detail in relation to how social media platforms will actually operationalise this,” she said.
“It’s not straightforward … There are many children who use [and] want to use these types of accounts. So how do you actually manage that?”
A notable aspect of the bill revealed by Scott is its enforcement regime, with the penalties being on par with those imposed for serious invasions of privacy under the Privacy Act.
“There is an enforcement regime in relation to failure to comply with the restrictions. It’s a pretty significant one and its penalties of up to 150,000 penalty units, which is currently equivalent to about $50 million,” she said.
“It’s equivalent to the penalty provision for serious invasions of privacy in the Privacy Act.”
Scott emphasised the importance of “working with their clients upfront” and collaborating closely with them for legal professionals to navigate and adapt to the new regulatory landscape effectively.
She further said: “Lawyers will be thinking about this legislation, but also looking to see how it impacts and works alongside other pieces of legislation that are really important, like cybersecurity and protecting the data that they do need to collect.”
Scott also shared that she believes “the work will begin as soon as that commences, and we expect that will happen pretty soon”.
