Musk repudiates Australia’s plan to ban social media for those under 16 years of age

Published:

Nov 22, 2024 09:47 GMT

“It seems like a covert way to control Internet access for all Australians,” the tycoon wrote.

Elon Musk criticized the proposed Australian law to ban those under 16 from using social media and fine platforms up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (32 million US dollars) for systematic violations, inform Reuters.

The Australian government introduced the bill in Parliament on Thursday and intends to test an age verification system that could include biometrics or government identification to enforce an age limit on social media.

“It seems like a covert way of control internet access for all Australians“, said Musk in response to the country’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s X post about the bill.

In September, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX called to “fascist” Australia for proposing a law to fine social media networks up to 5% of their global revenue for sharing fake news. Under the proposal, technology platforms would be required to establish codes of conduct to prevent the spread of dangerous misinformation, which would have to be approved by a regulator. Otherwise, they would receive fines and be obliged to follow a rule established by the authorities.