Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024

The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill for a second time. This means they can now discuss it in more detail.

Rebellions

There was one rebellion during this division, with Bass MP Bridget Archer (Liberal) voting No against the rest of the Liberal Party, who voted Yes.

What does the bill do?

According to the bills digest (which is a document prepared by the parliamentary library):

• The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 (the Bill) introduces an obligation on certain social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 years of age from having an account.

• It is the responsibility of the eSafety Commissioner to write guidelines on the ‘reasonable steps’ to be taken by age-restricted social media platforms.

• Details on what may be included in these guidelines, such as what age estimation or age verification technology may be used, is not included in the Bill.

• The obligation for certain social media platforms to restrict under-age account holders will not commence for at least 12 months, with the date to be set by the Minister.

• Research, including by the eSafety Commissioner, suggests that there are both benefits and risks to social media use by children, and that these benefits and risks are individualised.

• The Bill has bipartisan support. However, some experts and researchers in relevant fields have encouraged the government to pursue alternative action.

• The Bill has been referred to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 26 November 2024.

• At the time of writing, the Bill has not been considered by any parliamentary scrutiny committees.