Social media giant X is pushing back hard against Australia's proposed new laws that would tighten restrictions on underage social media use, arguing the measures could actually violate international law.
In a recent submission to the Australian Parliament, X, part of Elon Musk's empire, urged the government to ditch plans to strengthen its ban on under-16s accessing social media platforms. The company claims the proposals are unnecessary, unfair, and could even infringe on privacy rights by demanding "highly invasive" data gathering powers. X suggested the Australian regulator seems to lack understanding of how these platforms operate and has failed to include safeguards for confidential business information.
The company also warned that demanding data and compliance evidence from entities outside Australia could cause friction on the international stage, impacting "the comity of nations." Australia has been a frontrunner in the global push to limit children's exposure to social media, implementing its ban on under-16s in December. This isn't the first clash; Australia previously fined X (then Twitter) $463,000 for not sufficiently addressing child sexual abuse content, a fine issued before Musk's takeover.
X has previously criticized Australia's penalty system as "excessive" and called proposed increases to penalties against individuals "entirely unjustified and disproportionate." Elon Musk himself has been a vocal critic, previously labeling the legislation a "backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians" and calling Spain's Prime Minister a "tyrant" for similar measures.
While some digital rights advocates, like researcher Stefania Di Stefano, believe blanket age bans can be problematic from a human rights standpoint – potentially limiting children's rights to freedom of expression and information – they don't necessarily see the information-gathering powers as the core issue. Professor Julia Hörnle of Queen Mary University of London, however, is skeptical of X's stance, noting that Australian regulators ordering disclosure of documents related to business activities within Australia is standard practice and that companies can distinguish between Australian and non-Australian user data.
