Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated on Thursday that the government will legislate to ban individuals under the age of 16 from using social media, even users with parental consent cannot be exempted.

Albanese said at a press conference: "Social media is harming our children, and I want to end this situation."

He said: "Social media platforms have a responsibility to prove that they are taking reasonable measures to prevent access. The responsibility will not fall on parents or young people."

He added that the legislation will be submitted to parliament this year and will take effect 12 months after parliamentary approval.

Australian Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland stated that affected platforms will include Meta's Instagram and Facebook, as well as Musk's X. She added that Google's YouTube may also fall within the scope of this legislation.