Since Meta whistleblower Frances Haugen aired internal emails in 2021 showing the tech giant knew of social media's mental health impacts on teenagers, world leaders have agonised over how to curb the technology's addictive pull on young minds.

Australian Senate passes social media ban for young children, which will soon become a world-first law. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events

By Alasdair Pal SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday that social media platforms now have a responsibility to ensure the safety of children, after the country's parliament passed a bill banning those under the age of 16 from using the services.

The Australian Senate has passed a social media ban for young children that will soon become a world-first law

TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X, and Instagram will be liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts.

The world's first social media ban for children under 16 was hailed Australia's Prime Minister, but critics said it does nothing to address harmful content existing on the internet, saying children "absolutely will bypass it".

Australia is set to become the first country to ban social-media use by under-16s after the country’s Senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of strict new legislation.The ban, which will take at least 12 months to come into effect,