Australia moved closer on Wednesday to banning social media for children under 16 after the parliament's lower house passed a bill even as Alphabet's Google and Facebook-owner Meta pressed the government to delay the legislation.

Wayne Holdsworth became an advocate for banning Australian children younger than 16 from social media because his son took his own life after falling victim to an online sextortion scam

Australia’s House of Representatives has passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years from social media. That leaves it to the Senate to take the next step

Australia on Wednesday moved closer to banning social media for children under 16 after the parliament's lower house passed the bill even as Alphabet's Google and Facebook-owner Meta pressed the government to delay the legislation.

The major parties backed the bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.

Melbourne: Australia's House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalise the world-first law.