TikTok, Instagram Ban for Australian Kids Heralds Global Curbs

Australia will soon ban its youth from popular services like TikTok and Instagram, becoming the world’s first democracy to carry out such a crackdown in response to growing concerns about social media’s harms. It’s likely to be the first of many.

The platforms will be required by law to block under-16s from holding accounts from Dec. 10, with companies that don’t comply facing fines of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million).

Social media platforms will be required by law to block under-16s from holding accounts from Dec. 10.

Photographer: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images

The measures are spurring an increasing number of governments to seek to hold social media firms to account for toxic content and cyberbullying. Interviews with policymakers from Jakarta ...