Australia plans to strengthen laws banning children from social media

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government is giving priority to strengthening the world’s first laws that ban children younger than 16 from social media platforms. Observers said on Friday (June 26, 2026) the government is responding to evidence that the ban on young children holding accounts on platforms including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube had failed since it came into force in December year. Albanese told Parliament on Thursday this government is considering options to strengthen the ban. He said: “We’re working on that as a priority because this is something that other generations didn’t have to deal with.”