Politician calls Australia ‘guinea pig’ for censorship with social media ban

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A world-first social media ban took impact in Australia final week, proscribing youngsters youthful than 16 from utilizing platforms akin to Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.

"Australia has change into a world guinea pig for the individuals who need web censorship," mentioned Hon. John Ruddick, a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.

Greater than 200,000 accounts have been deactivated Wednesday after Australia’s Online Safety Amendment went into impact.

"It is large," he defined. "It is the one factor the nation's speaking about."

AUSTRALIA IMPLEMENTS FIRST-EVER YOUTH SOCIAL MEDIA BAN

A 13-year-old boy shows a message on his cell phone from social media platform Snapchat after his account was locked for age verification in Sydney on December 9, 2025. (Photograph by AFP through Getty Photographs)

The ten social media giants included within the ban are Fb, Instagram, X, TikTok, Snapchat, Kick, Reddit, Threads, Twitch and YouTube. By regulation, they're required to find and deactivate accounts of Australian customers beneath the age of 16.

"I've heard that each playground round Australia for months has been speaking about censorship coming," Ruddick informed Fox News Digital .

Kids and fogeys gained’t be penalized for violating the ban, however social media corporations face fines of as much as $33 million in the event that they don’t take "cheap steps" to take away underage customers.

Many Aussie youngsters, Ruddick mentioned, are already discovering methods to skirt the sweeping ban.

"They're getting round it by pretend IDs, opening new apps — which you recognize are popping up — VPNs," he defined. "Youngsters are tech-savvy… That is what we predicted would occur."

A youngster will get a notification from Instagram after the account was locked for age verification in Sydney on December 9, 2025. (Photograph by AFP through Getty Photographs)

Ruddick, alongside two Australian youngsters, is taking authorized motion over the ban, submitting a constitutional problem to Australia’s Excessive Court docket. Equal to the U.S. Supreme Court docket, the courtroom can overturn legal guidelines it deems unconstitutional.

Ruddick informed Fox Information Digital he believes the social media ban violates younger Australians’ proper to political communication.

"We're saying that that is breaching younger children' potential to have interaction in politics, and a whole lot of them can be voting inside two years of turning the age of 16," he defined.

The Australian politician is the president of the Digital Freedom Project , a bunch launched to lift public consciousness concerning the ban that he calls a "harmful violation" of free speech.

AUSTRALIA BEGINS ENFORCING SOCIAL MEDIA LAW BANNING CHILDREN UNDER 16 FROM MAJOR PLATFORMS

A judgment on their constitutional problem is predicted in March or April 2026.

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks throughout an official operate to mark the beginning of Australia's social media reform at Kirrilbilli Home in Sydney on Dec. 10, 2025. (DAVID GRAY / AFP through Getty Photographs)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the ban is about shielding youngsters from the dangerous results of social media.

Albanese mentioned Wednesday that the nation is taking a number one function in difficult main tech platforms and demanding accountability for a way social media impacts youngsters’s well-being.

"It’s a profound reform which is able to proceed to reverberate around the globe in coming months, to help not simply this technology, however generations to return," Albanese mentioned.

The politician counters Albanese’s argument, saying the ban will create the "worst of each worlds," with youngsters turning to harmful underground media platforms whereas dad and mom let their guard down, assuming the ban is defending them.

AFTER AUSTRALIA PASSES SOCIAL MEDIA BAN, LAWMAKERS PROBED ON WHY CONGRESS HASN’T DONE MORE TO PROTECT KIDS

US lawmakers are being probed on whether or not a social media ban may come to America. (J. David Ake/Getty Photographs)

Again within the U.S., lawmakers on each side of the aisle are signaling an curiosity in harder social media restrictions for younger folks following the Aussies’ one-of-a-kind ban.

"I believe we ought to have a look at what Australia’s doing, for instance, requiring entry to those social media platforms to not be out there to anyone beneath the age of 16," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, mentioned.

"I believe defending youngsters is an avenue that must be pursued," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ailing., mentioned. "I gained’t rule out some kind of limitation in gross sales or distribution or use of these units… Mother and father and grandparents want a serving to hand; that is getting out of hand."

Social media giants like Meta may face multi-million-dollar fines in the event that they fail to ban underage Australian customers. (Anna Barclay/Getty Photographs)

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Ruddick warned that Australia’s ban is making "very outstanding folks" serious about a harmful technique of censorship.

"I used to be assuming that the U.S. First Modification was going to guard you from this," the politician informed Fox Information Digital. "However this is the reason I believe we're a guinea pig. We're having very outstanding folks all around the globe popping out and supporting this ban."

"They will attempt to say it is a success, after which they will say, ‘Oh, the remainder of the world wants to do that.’ This isn't about defending children. That is about web censorship, which all governments crave," he added.