The policy targets platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X, using age assurance tech such as facial recognition or ID checks, with heavy fines for non-compliant companies.
It exempts messaging apps like WhatsApp, plus educational and shopping sites, and builds on Australia’s approach after a consultation where nine in 10 parents and two-thirds of youth supported restrictions.
Schoolkids reacted bluntly on BBC News, with one noting her nine-hour screen time would leave her staring at a wall, while critics question parental choice and inconsistencies like 16-year-olds voting yet facing app blocks
