Elon Musk against Australia following the restriction of social networks to minors

The American billionaire Elon Musk,the owner of social networking platform X (formerly Twitter), has criticized Australia’s proposed legislation to ban children under 16 from using social networks. The proposed legislation includes fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (about 32 million US dollars) on platforms who will systematically break the rules.

Australia’s centre-left government introduced the bill in parliament on Thursday, which aims to introduce an age verification system to monitor the use of social networks. The legislation is described as one of the most severe introduced in the world so far.

Musk, known for his staunch stance in favor of free speech, expressed his concern about the legislation in response to a post by the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese,on Network X. “Looks like a backdoor way to control internet access for all Australians,” Musk wrote on Thursday night.

Many countries have already announced plans to enact laws restricting children’s use of social media, but Australia’s policy may be the strictest. While laws in countries such as France and the United States allow parental consent in some cases, the Australian proposal does not include such exceptions and does not allow use for existing accounts either.

Last year, France proposed a law banning children under the age of 15 from using social networks, but it included a clause allowing use with parental permission. In the United States, decades-old laws require technology companies to obtain parental consent to collect data from children under the age of 13.

Musk is no stranger to clashes with the Australian government. He previously called her “fascist” following the misinformation law that was introduced in the country. Last April, Platform X filed a lawsuit in an Australian court against an order by the cyber regulator, which required it to remove certain posts about the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney. The case provoked a sharp reaction from Prime Minister Albanizi, who called Musk an “arrogant billionaire.”

The current legislation is designed to deal with the negative effects of social networks on children, an issue that is at the center of public debate in Australia and around the world. Opponents of the bill claim that it could lead to an invasion of privacy and an unnecessary restriction on freedom of access to the Internet.

The Australian government says the move is necessary to protect children from online dangers, but it remains to be seen whether the move will lead to widespread implementation of an age verification system and how it will affect technology companies and users.