X says Australia’s social media ban for under-16s risks interfering with foreign law

X has A new argument against sweeping minors Block social media This would limit the use of its platform: it would interfere with international law.

The social media platform housed inside Elon Musk SpaceXissued Submission to the Australian Parliament published on Tuesday which called on the government to abandon efforts to strengthen it Ban underage social media. She complained that proposals to increase pressure on sites to demonstrate efforts to eliminate underage access were unnecessary, inappropriate, unfair and could violate privacy rights.

The The company also warned that demanding data, documents and evidence of compliance from non-Australians in other countries could cause problems for “state reconciliation”.

Australia leads a A growing global movement To restrict children’s access to social media, after banning children under 16 from using the sites in December. In May, the state ordered Company X to pay a $463,000 fine for failing to comply with child safety procedures. The country’s internet regulator, eSafety, issued the fine for the first time in 2023, alleging that Elon Musk Acquired by Twitter, now X.

X has previously criticized the country’s “excessive” sanctions regime, complaining in his latest report that the proposal to increase sanctions against individuals was “completely unjustified and disproportionate”.

Musk has been a particularly vocal critic of the Australian bill making 16 the minimum age for social media. “It appears to be a backdoor way to control internet access for all Australians.” Written on X When the legislation was announced in late 2024. When Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced similar measures in February of this year, Musk called him a “tyrant” and “true fascist totalitarian.”

While many digital rights activists believe that blanket bans on social media based on age are a problem, information-gathering powers are not the issue, says Stefania Di Stefano, a researcher in international law and technologies.

“For me, a complete ban on social media for children and minors is problematic from an international human rights perspective,” Di Stefano says. “It is disproportionate with regard to the right of children to exercise their right to freedom of expression, their right to access information, their right to association, etc.”

But Julia Hornley, a professor of internet law at Queen Mary University of London, is skeptical about X’s offering. “A regulator in Australia is ordering X to disclose a document relating to its business activities in Australia, and that’s perfectly fine,” she told WIRED. “From all the data the social media company has, they can distinguish between Australian and non-Australian children and therefore reserve regulation for Australia.”