Australians won’t have to hand over ID when using social media, communications minister vows

Michelle Rowland tells Labor party room platforms like Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit and X cannot compel people to submit personal documents

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Australians will not be compelled to hand over personal identification – such as a driver licence or passport – to big tech companies as part of the government’s world-first under-16s social media ban, the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has pledged.

Several Coalition members have raised alarm about the privacy implications of the bill, with concerns over whether platforms such as Facebook or TikTok would require personal documents to verify a user’s age.

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