The Australian government’s plan to ban children from social media platforms including X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram until their 16th birthdays is politically popular. The opposition party says it would have done the same after winning elections due within months if the government hadn’t moved first.

Google and Meta have called on the Australian government to delay its proposed ban on social media use for children.As per Reuters, the social media platforms urged the Australian government to postpone a proposed bill that would ban most forms

Google and Facebook-owner Meta Platforms urged the Australian government on Tuesday to delay a bill that will ban most forms of social media for children under 16, saying more time was needed to assess its potential impact.

The legislation would impose fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) on platforms for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.

An advocate for major social media platforms has told Australia’s Parliament that a plan to ban children younger than 16 from the sites should be delayed rather than being rushed to approval this week

Australia plans to trial an age-verification system that may include biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media age cut-off, some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date.

It is one of number of tech firms pushing back against Australia's plan to ban social media for under-16s.