Australian lawmakers passed landmark rules to ban under 16s from social media on Thursday, approving one of the world’s toughest crackdowns on popular sites like Facebook, Instagram and X.

The bill has now passed both parliamentary chambers with bipartisan support, and social media firms will soon be expected to take “reasonable steps” to prevent young teens from having accounts.

The firms — who face fines of up to Aus$50 million (US$32.5 million) for failing to comply — have described the laws as “vague”, “problematic” and “rushed”.

The legislation passed parliament’s lower chamber on Wednesday and passed the Senate late on Thursday evening. It is now all but certain to become law.

Centre-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, eyeing an election early next year, has enthusiastically championed the new rules and rallied Aussie parents to get behind it.

In the run up to the vote, he painted social media as “a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators”.

He wanted, he said, young Australians “off their phones and onto the footy and cricket field, the tennis and netball courts, in the swimming pool”.

– ‘I’ll find a way’ –

But young Australians like 12-year-old Angus Lydom, are not impressed.

“I’d like to keep using it. And it’ll be a weird feeling to not have it, and be able to talk to all my friends at home,” he told AFP.

Many are likely to try to find ways around it.

“I’ll find a way. And so will all my other friends” Lydom said.

Similarly, 11-year-old Elsie Arkinstall said there was still a place for social media, particularly for children wanting to watch tutorials about baking or art, many of which appear on social media.

“Kids and teens should be able to explore those techniques because you can’t learn all those things from books,” she added.

On paper, the ban is one of the strictest in the world.

But the current legislation offers almost no details on how the rules will be enforced — prompting concern among experts that it will simply be a symbolic piece of legislation that is unenforceable.

It will be at least 12 months before the details are worked out by regulators and the ban comes into effect.

Some companies will likely be granted exemptions, such as WhatsApp and YouTube, which teenagers may need to use for recreation, school work or other reasons.

Late amendments were introduced to ensure government-issued digital ID cannot be used as a means of age verification.

– Australia leads the way –

Social media expert Susan Grantham told AFP that digital literacy programmes that teach children to think “critically” about what they see online should be adopted — similar to a model used in Finland.

The legislation will be closely monitored by other countries, with many weighing whether to implement similar bans.

Lawmakers from Spain to Florida have proposed social media bans for young teens, although none of the measures have been implemented yet.

China has restricted access for minors since 2021, with under-14s not allowed to spend more than 40 minutes a day on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

Online gaming time for children is also limited in China.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Two low intensity blasts in two months in Delhi’s Prashant Vihar – one on October 20 at a CRPF, or Central Reserve Police Force, school and another Thursday morning near a movie theatre – have set alarm bells ringing.

No casualties or injuries were reported from the former incident, but the blast today injured the driver of a parked three-wheeler. In both cases an unidentified, as yet, white powder was recovered.

Police sources said it is too early to link the blasts but have acknowledged a similarity.

What We Know About Blast Near PVR

According to Delhi Police spokesperson SK Tyagi, an emergency call was made at 11.47 am informing the cops of a loud noise near a mithai store. Police teams were rushed to the spot, as were four teams of firefighters and bomb disposal officers with sniffer dogs.

CCTV footage of the moment of the blast; a grey Honda City is parked by the side of the street and a white two-wheeler is driving past when the blast is heard (the blast itself was off camera) and it triggers the anti-theft alarms of other cars parked nearby.

READ | Explosion Heard In Northwest Delhi, Police Rushes To Spot

Another video showed a large cloud of white smoke billowing across the area and covering the open market area – a Domino’s Pizza sign can be seen in the background – in dust.

“The investigation is ongoing. There are no suspects for now,” Mr Tyagi told reporters.

What We Know About Blast Near CRPF School

The October 20 blast took place nearly four hours earlier – at 7.50 am.

October 20 was a Sunday.

The first blast destroyed part of the boundary wall of a CRPF school. 

In that case too there was CCTV footage, and it showed the moment the explosion tore through the boundary wall of the school. Nearby shops and a car were damaged.

READ | On CCTV, Moment Huge Explosion Ripped Through Wall Of Delhi School

As this morning, a forensics team and a bomb disposal squad were deployed.

In addition, a team of NSG, or National Security Guard, commandos were also called; they deployed drones to scan the area for more explosives.

And, apart from finding the same white powder found today in the PVR blast, the cops also collected data to identify mobile phones in the area when the explosion took place.

Political Fallout

Hours after the blast Thursday morning (the second one), Delhi Chief Minister Atishi accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led centre of failing to maintain law-and-order in the city.

“This is a breakdown of law-and-order in the national capital,” she declared, pinning the blame on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, to whose office Delhi Police reports.

Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi’s predecessor and the National Convener of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, criticised the BJP for a “growing sense of fear and insecurity” among Delhi’s residents.

READ | Atishi Blames BJP For Law & Order Failure After Delhi Blast

The twin attacks come as the AAP and the BJP prep for the Delhi election next year, with law-and-order in the national capital among many topics on which the two will clash.

The Chief Minister had also hit out at the BJP after the first blast; in a post on X, she said the blast had exposed Delhi’s “crumbling” law-and-order system. “But the BJP ignores this… this is why Delhi is now like Mumbai during ‘underworld era’…bullets are being fired in the open,” she declared.

READ | Atishi’s “Underworld” Jab Over Delhi Blast, BJP’s “Puppet” Reply

Responding to the charge, the BJP’s Shazia Ilmi told NDTV, “The puppet Chief Minister is known for this…. if you make her speak on any topic it is always about the centre. Something very serious has happened (but) instead of expressing anxiety a political blame game has begun. It is immature…”

CRPF Schools Get Bomb Threats

A day after the October 20 blast, CRPF schools across the country received an email warning of more explosions. Delhi has two such schools; the second is in Dwarka.

READ | After Blast In Delhi, All CRPF Schools Receive Hoax Bomb Threats

Fortunately, the email was found to be a hoax, although it came at a time when hundreds of similar threats were made to passenger flights, domestic and international.

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Satellite images show the IDF has destroyed hundreds of buildings in north Gaza as it creates the divide. 

​Satellite images show the IDF has destroyed hundreds of buildings in north Gaza as it creates the divide.