SYDNEY, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Big Tech corporations on

Friday hit out at a landmark Australian law that bans youths

under the age of 16 from accessing social media, saying the law

was "rushed" through parliament.

Australia approved the social media ban for children late on

Thursday. The law forces tech giants from Instagram and Facebook

owner Meta to TikTok to stop minors logging in or face

fines of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million).

TikTok, the hugely popular platform where teen users upload

and share videos, said in a statement to Reuters on Friday that

it was likely the ban could see young people pushed to darker

corners of the internet.

"Moving forward, it's critical that the Australian

government works closely with industry to fix issues created by

this rushed process. We want to work together to keep teens safe

and reduce the unintended consequences of this law for all

Australians," it said.

The government had warned Big Tech of its plans for months,

and first announced the ban after a parliamentary inquiry

earlier this year that heard testimony from parents of children

who had self-harmed due to cyber bullying.

Albanese's Labor party, which does not control the Senate,

won crucial support from the opposition conservatives for the

bill, allowing it to progress quickly.

The bill was introduced into parliament last Thursday and

sent to a select committee on Friday where interested parties

had 24 hours to make a submission. The legislation was passed on

Thursday as part of 31 bills that were pushed through in a

chaotic final day of parliament for the year.

Meta criticised the law saying it was a "predetermined

process".

"Last week, the parliament's own committee said the 'causal

link with social media appears unclear,' with respect to the

mental health of young Australians, whereas this week the rushed

Senate Committee report pronounced that social media caused

harm," it said in a statement in the early hours of Friday.

Snapchat parent Snap said it leaves many questions

unanswered.

Australia has been at loggerheads with the mostly

U.S.-domiciled tech giants for years. It was the first country

to make social media platforms pay media outlets royalties for

sharing their content and earlier this year said it plans to

threaten them with fines for failing to stamp out scams.

Sunita Bose, managing director of Digital Industry Group,

which has most social media companies as members, said no one

can confidently explain how the law will work in practice.

"The community and platforms are in the dark about what

exactly is required of them," she said.

A trial of methods to enforce it will start in January with

the ban to take effect by Nov. 2025.