QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Ms WELLS (Lilley—Minister for Sport and Minister for Communications) (14:38): I thank the member for Bass for her question and for the thoughtful and optimistic contribution that she has made to the parliament in her time here so far. Australia's world-leading social media minimum age laws sparked a global conversation that is rapidly becoming a global movement.
Since our laws started on 10 December, more than five million social media accounts belonging to under-16's have been removed, deactivated or restricted. But the impact of our social media minimum age laws isn't stopping there. Our goal is for tech companies to compete on the safety features of their platforms in the same way that car companies promote themselves as the safest for your family.
After my meeting with the founder and CEO earlier this year, Roblox introduced children's accounts with improved safety features, and Apple will soon implement a significant uplift to parental controls—a change the CEO said was inspired by Australia's world-leading approach to children's online safety. Building on our social media minimum age laws, the Albanese government will introduce a digital duty of care that will require platforms to have systems in place to prevent harm before it occurs—harm from AI chatbots that send people down dangerous paths, or 'nudify' tools that strip people of their bodily autonomy, and harm from personalised algorithm recommended systems that maximise engagement and put profit before user wellbeing; systems that amplify extreme content, entrench social biases and negatively impact mental health through addiction and harmful online comparisons; and systems that send users down rabbit holes and create echo chambers that fuel division or extremism in the community.
The Albanese government is proud to stand with parents, and we will not back down from our mission to keep kids safe from the harms of social media. As Wayne Holdsworth, the founder of SmackTalk, said yesterday: The implementation of this legislation— The social media minimum age law— and the day that it was effected December 10, 2025 is an historic day in this country's history and I'm really proud to be an Australian.
The world is watching. We will continue to lead the way and, going forward, I implore all members of parliament to support the Albanese government's amendment to the social media minimum age law so that the eSafety Commissioner can hold social media platforms to account.