The corresponding statement was made by the Prime Minister of the country Anthony Albanese.

The head of government noted that Australia has adopted "a world-leading law that sets the minimum age of social media users at 16 years old." "He is making changes to the current legislation governing Internet security, which will provide better protection for young Australians at critical stages of their development," the statement said.

Albanese also pointed out that the country's authorities will require technology companies and social media administrations to take reasonable measures to ensure that users under the age of 16 cannot create accounts and pages. "The government will provide strict penalties for violating the new law, and digital platforms will face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars [more than $32 million]," he said, noting that the social networks Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) will fall under the new rules. Google Classroom and YouTube, as well as messaging and online games, will remain accessible to children, reports tass.ru.