Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has expressed his willingness to have a conversation with Elon Musk, the major shareholder of social media platform X (formerly Twitter), who recently criticized the Australian parliament’s passage of the
In an interview with Australia’s ABC, when asked if he was prepared to discuss the law with Musk, Prime Minister Albanese stated, “The Australian government is open to speaking with anyone,” according to reports by Reuters and others.
During the Q&A session of the interview, the Prime Minister emphasized the legitimacy of the law, stating, “We have decided to implement the law, and the parliament passed it with overwhelming support.”
Earlier, on the 28th of last month, the Australian parliament became the first in the world to pass a law that completely bans social media use for those under 16, regardless of parental consent.
The law, proposed by Albanese in early November, stipulates that platforms will be fined if they allow children and teenagers under 16 to create accounts on SNS platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Reddit, and X.
Furthermore, if regulatory checks reveal insufficient compliance measures, the platform could face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars, equivalent to 45 billion Korean won.
In response, Musk criticized the regulation in a post on X last month, suggesting it appeared to be a “backdoor method” for controlling internet access for all Australians.
Some social media platform companies subjected to regulation, including Facebook, have also criticized what they see as a rushed legislation process, arguing that there is a lack of effective mechanisms to prevent minors from using their services.
[Photo credit: Reuters=Yonhap News]