Australia has instituted a new law banning social media for children under 16.

Approved late on Thursday, 28th November, the law targets tech giants like TikTok and Meta, with fines up to 49.5 million Australian dollars for non-compliance.

This legislation raises questions about whether all countries should be implementing similar laws.

Founder of My Social Life, Dean McCoubrey contends that social media platforms are at fault as their only concern is harvesting users’ data, which is then sold to companies.

“This is then used to produce targeted marketing at users. Children’s brains are not ready for the influences on social media. It is therefore up to parents to protect their children from a world that their children are not equipped to deal with.” said McCoubrey.

In South Africa, a 15-year-old boy, Wessel Lourens, had taken his own life  amidst concerns that he was bullied on social media.