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Bill for under-16s passed lower house 102 votes to 13

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Senate will debate bill later on Wednesday

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Govt wants bill to become law by end of parliament on

Thursday

(Rewrites with lower house passing bill)

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Australia on Wednesday moved

closer to banning social media for children under 16 after the

parliament's lower house passed the bill even as Alphabet's

Google and Facebook-owner Meta pressed the

government to delay the legislation.

Australia's House of Representatives passed the bill 102

votes to 13 after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's centre-left

Labor government secured bipartisan support for the ban.

The Senate is expected to debate the bill later on

Wednesday, with the government keen to ensure it is passed by

the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday.

Albanese, trying to lift his approval ratings ahead of

an election expected in May, has argued that excessive use of

social media poses risks to the physical and mental health of

children and is looking for support from parents.

Media outlets, including News Corp ( NWSA ), have backed the

ban.

Some youth advocates including Australia's human rights

commission raised concerns the law would hurt children's rights

to self-expression, but a YouGov survey released on Tuesday

showed 77% of Australians backed the ban, up from 61% in an

August survey.

The planned law would force social media platforms to

take reasonable steps to ensure age-verification protections are

in place. Companies could be fined up to A$49.5 million ($32

million) for systemic breaches.

Australia plans to trial an age-verification system that may

include biometrics or government identification to enforce the

ban, some of the toughest social media controls imposed by any

country to date.

A Senate committee late on Tuesday backed the bill but

inserted a condition that social media platforms should not

force users to submit personal data such as passport and other

digital identification to prove their age.

In its report, the Senate's environment and communications

legislation committee said social media platforms "must set out

alternative methods for assuring age as reasonable steps with

consideration given to the age assurance trial."

A progress report on the age assurance trial must be

submitted by the communications minister to parliament by Sept.

30, 2025, the committee said as it urged the government to

"meaningfully engage" with youth when framing the law.

"Young people, and in particular diverse cohorts, must be at

the centre of the conversation as an age restriction is

implemented to ensure there are constructive pathways for

connection," committee Chair Senator Karen Grogan said.

In separate submissions to parliament, Google and Meta

said the social media ban should be delayed until the

age-verification trial finishes. Bytedance's TikTok said the

bill needed more consultation, while Elon Musk's X said the

proposed law might hurt children's human rights.

Some opposition and independent lawmakers have criticised

the government for trying to pass the legislation in a week. The

bill was introduced last Thursday, submissions on it closed the

following day, and a brief public hearing was held on Monday.

($1 = 1.5451 Australian dollars)