Kuala Lampur, Oct. 22 -- Like Malaysia, Australia is a federation. There is a federal government; there are state governments.

But unlike Malaysia, whose federal government has proposed a social media ban for children under 16, the Australian federal government has legislated that children under the age of 16 will not be able to sign up for social media accounts.

The legislation - the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, passed on November 29, 2024 - amends the Online Safety Act 2021 and requires platforms to take reasonable steps to enforce the ban, with fines of up to A$50 million (RM137 million) for non-compliance.

The legislation can be read here.

In a message to Australians after the legislation was passed...