Australia to restrict social media users age to 16

Published

3 months ago

September 10, 2024

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Australian government has announced it will ban children from using social media with a minimum age limit as high as 16.

The country’s prime minister disclosed this on Tuesday, September 10, vowing to get kids off their devices and ‘onto the footy fields’.

Federal legislation to keep children off social media will be introduced this year, Anthony Albanese said, describing the impact of the sites on young people as a ‘scourge’.

The minimum age for children to log into sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok has not been decided but is expected to be between 14 and 16 years, Albanese said.

The prime minister said his own preference would be a block on users aged below 16.

Age verification trials are being held over the coming months, the centre-left leader said, though analysts said they doubted it was technically possible to enforce an online age limit.

‘I want to see kids off their devices and onto the footy fields and the swimming pools and the tennis courts,’ Albanese said.

We want them to have real experiences with real people because we know that social media is causing social harm,’ he told national broadcaster ABC.

This is a scourge. We know that there is mental health consequences for what many of the young people have had to deal with,’ he said.

Australia’s conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton said he would support an age limit.

‘Every day of delay leaves young kids vulnerable to the harms of social media and the time for relying on tech companies to enforce age limits,’ he said.

But it is not clear that the technology exists to reliably enforce such bans, said the University of Melbourne’s associate professor in computing and information technology, Toby Murray.

Just in: Tinubu exposes those behind deadly stampedes

Published

5 hours ago

December 23, 2024

Austin Ojomah

President Bola Tinubu has accused organisers for the deadly stampedes that occurred during the distribution of relief materials in three states.

Recall in the past week, chaotic scenes in Ibadan, Anambra and Abuja led to the deaths of over 60 people, including children, as crowds scrambled for food items.

During a Presidential Media Chat on Monday, Tinubu described the events as a critical failure in planning and execution.

Condolences to those who lost a family member, but it is good to give. I have been giving out food stuff, commodities, etc. in Bourdillon.

“I am an organized person and that’s why I have been giving people food for the past 25 years and no incident has happened.

“Let this tragedy not affect us”, the Nigerian leader said.

The president also said he has no plans to reduce his cabinet or sack more ministers.

For the controversial tax reform bills, he said it has come to stay.

He also revealed he has no regrets removing fuel subsidy.

He declared utmost confidence in his security chiefs saying over the past decades, wanton killings has reduced drastically.

Tinubu To Hold Maiden Presidential Media Chat Tonight

Published

8 hours ago

December 23, 2024

Naijablitznews

President Bola Tinubu will hold first presidential chat since assuming office on Monday night.

Accoding to a statement released by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, the chat will be broadcast at 9 p.m. on the stations of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).

All television and radio stations are requested to hook up to the broadcast.

“The first Presidential Media Chat with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be broadcast at 9 p.m. on Monday, December 23, on the Nigerian Television Authority and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria.

“All television and radio stations are requested to hook up to the broadcast,” the statement.

News

‘Putin waiting to meet me as soon as possible’ to end Ukraine war – Trump

Published

9 hours ago

December 23, 2024

Naijablitznews

The US President-elect took to the stage AmFest in Phoenix to talk about his contact with the Russian leader.

He told the crowd: “President Putin has said he want to meet with me as soon as possible.”

Trump went on to brand the war “horrible” and stated it needed to end. It is not known whether or not this meeting will take place in person. His comments at the event in the US come as Putin met with another world leader.

Putin held talks in the Kremlin today (December 22) with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA agency that the talks would focus on “the international situation” and Russian natural gas deliveries.

Visits and phone calls from European leaders to Putin have been rare since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, although Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban visited Russia in July. Orban’s visit drew condemnation from Kyiv and European leaders.Fico’s views on Russia’s war on Ukraine differ sharply from most other European leaders. The Slovakian PM returned to power last year after his leftist party Smer (Direction) won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform. Since then, he has ended his country’s military aid for Ukraine, hit out at EU sanctions on Russia, and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO.