Experts have called the Australian government’s proposal to ban young people under 16 from social media a “momentous step” in response to calls for tighter regulation of digital companies throughout the world. 

It is anticipated that the law, which will be presented to Australia’s parliament this year, will test age-verification technologies to prevent minors from using social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, Bytedance’s TikTok, and Elon Musk’s X. The Heads Up Alliance, is an Australian organization  co-founded by Dany Elachi that links parents who are preventing their kids from using smartphones and social media.

Lead researcher of “The Anxious Generation,” Zach Rausch, a scientist at NYU Stern School of Business, called Australia’s law a “momentous step” that would establish Australia as a “global leader in protecting kids online.” He explains that age limitations are “common sense” and that they apply to everything from purchasing alcohol, to smoking, to driving.

“It is parents…who know the damage that social media is causing our children. We refused to give up on our children, and here we are, on the verge of reclaiming childhood after it had been stolen for 15 years,”Elachi said from HUA.