00:00The deadline for Australia's ambitious, world-first social media ban is almost upon us.
00:08From midnight tonight, these ten popular platforms will have to make sure under-16s don't have an account.
00:14And if they can't prove they've taken reasonable steps to do that, they could face fines of nearly $50 million.
00:20Australia is the first country to attempt something like this, which makes us a bit of a test case for the rest of the world.
00:27When the Online Safety Act was passed in 2021, there were growing concerns about the link between screen time and increasing rates of anxiety, depression and self-harm among young people.
00:39In 2024, the Albanese government set up a parliamentary committee to examine the impacts of social media.
00:46It stopped short of recommending a total ban, but the government decided to push ahead anyway, and the new law passed in November last year with bipartisan support.
00:55In the lead-up to the ban taking effect, lawmakers had to answer a deceptively simple question.
01:02What is social media?
01:04The definition the eSafety Commission has landed on is whether the platform's sole or significant purpose is to enable online social interaction.
01:12These ten companies are currently on the list, but more could and probably will be added.
01:18Meta, the owner of Instagram, threads and Facebook, has made moves already.
01:22It's been flagging accounts for removal and advising users to save their data before they're locked out.
01:28Other countries are watching closely.
01:31European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says she is inspired by Australia's bold move.
01:37As for how effective the ban will be, well, plenty of young people have plans to bypass it.
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