CANBERRA, Australia — Australian children under 16 will be banned from social media as part of a campaign to protect young people’s mental health, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, with companies involved expected to enforce the new regulations under penalty of potential fines.

“Social media is hurting our children and I’m putting a stop to it,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Thursday, pledging to introduce legislation later this month. “The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate that they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access. Responsibility will not fall on parents or young people. There will be no penalty for users.

The long-awaited age limits for social media are part of a series of measures by Albanese’s centre-left Labor government to crack down on tech giants, which the prime minister blames for a surge in misinformation and mental health issues.

Australia has a history of going after big tech companies that run social media sites, including in 2021 to make Facebook and Google pay for news content. More recently, the government sued X Corp. Elon Musk sued for failing to remove video of terrorist attack in Sydney.

Labor is also considering new legislation to force social media sites to crack down on misinformation and disinformation on their platforms.

The government said it had consulted with social media companies on age limits “through various means”. However, officials did not say which websites the changes would apply to, whether they had received assurances that a ban could be implemented or how large the penalties for businesses might be.

Albanese said he did not believe the laws would be fully effective or solve the problem immediately, pointing to alcohol restrictions that have failed to prevent underage drinking.

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