Anthony Albanese announced on Thursday the Federal Government had agreed on Monday to introduce a minimum age for social media access.

“Social media is doing harm to our kids, and I’m calling time on it,” he said.

The prime minister said the proposal would go to a virtual meeting of the nation’s leaders on Friday.

“The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access,” he said.

“The onus won’t be on parents or young people. There will be no penalties for users.”

He said the eSafety Commissioner will provide oversight and enforcement, with the legislation to kick in 12 months after it passes parliament.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland described the proposed laws as world leading.

“At arriving at this age, the Government has taken a pragmatic approach,” she said.

“What our approach does is helps to achieve a balance between minimising those harms that are caused by young people accessing social media, while still enabling connection and inclusion.”

The Government will introduce privacy protections for information collected for age assurance purposes.

Meanwhile, social enterprise Girl Geek Academy, which is dedicated to achieving gender equality in the technology industry, has slammed the decision, and queried exactly what the definition of social media is in 2024.

While Girl Geek Academy is all for protecting kids online, it says the ban plan “makes about as much sense as banning electricity to stop kids watching TV”.

“As digital educators, we’re all for protecting kids online. But maybe before we start swinging the ban hammer, we should figure out what we’re actually banning,” a statement from the organisation posed.

“Because right now, this plan makes about as much sense as banning electricity to stop kids watching TV.”

While the organisation acknowledged platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are obvious, many others are less so.

“... is it also your kid’s Year 7 Zoom class? Their Xbox party chat while playing Fortnite? The WhatsApp group where Nanna sends homework help? The GitHub repo where your daughter’s class is collaborating on their first open-source project?

“Here’s the kicker – try telling a 15-year-old they can’t use YouTube to learn coding, or share their favourite bands with friends on Spotify, or Scratch to share their first game with classmates,” the statement read.

And then tell their teachers the kids can’t use these tools in the classroom, it continued.

“Spoiler alert: these are all ‘social media’ platforms.”

Speaking on Seven’s Sunrise program on Friday morning, Education Minister Jason Clare said anyone with children at school “knows the damage that social media has done, [and] wants to get our kids out of the cesspit of social media”.

“Whenever I talk to young people at high school, they back this as well; they think that this would be good for their mental health,” Clare said.

“We already have got mobile phones out of schools. That’s meant that young people are more focused in the classroom, having more fun in the playground, they’re not sort of doom‑scrolling in the playground.”

While acknowledging the Government’s announcement as a significant step to better protect children from online harm, Act for Kids, a leading children’s organisation, also said there needs to be greater emphasis on social media giants and their own provisions to protect all children from online harm, regardless of their age.

Delivering evidence-based, trauma informed professional therapy, and support services for children who have experienced, or are at risk, of harm, Act for Kids said in a statement, that there is not yet effective technology in place for age assurance or to verify parental consent. 

“We want to see more commitment from the Federal Government that they will hold social media companies accountable for improving the safety and wellbeing of all social media users,” the statement read.

(with AAP)