MPs fear rush on children’s social media ban will see it fail in practice

A handful of Coalition backbenchers are expected to air concerns to colleagues in their party room meeting about the social media ban on children and the rush to push it through Parliament in under 10 days.

But the legislation will pass with the backing of Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese in one of the few bipartisan deals tipped for the final week of Parliament for the year.

The restriction on under-16s accessing platforms including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit is set to be voted on in the lower house on Tuesday and the Senate by the end of the week.

It will come into effect 12 months later.

A handful of Coalition backbenchers are concerned about the legislation, whether the age limit will work in reality and the fast-tracked process.

Examination of the laws that were put forward last Thursday has been given just five days including a three-hour public hearing to grill witnesses on Monday.

That committee received more than 10,000 submissions.

An email campaign from opponents to the ban has seen thousands of emails sent to politicians on the issue over the weekend.

Nationals MP Keith Pitt said he was sure colleagues would raise concerns in the Coalition’s party room meeting on Tuesday.

“There are some colleagues with deeply held concerns and very personal experiences,” he said.

“One of the short-term solutions is to ensure a proper Senate inquiry is established … to make sure the government has got this right.”

Matt Canavan has also gone public with fears about the ban’s adequacy, saying the approach seemed to be “fill in the blanks later”.

He saw no reason for the timetable to be so rushed apart from arbitrary political deadlines.

“In principle, I have no problem with restricting their use of these apps but if we’re serious about that we need to do something that’s effective,” Senator Canavan said.

Others are also privately worried it’s too rushed.

But they acknowledge it was a captain’s call by Mr Dutton to spruik the ban first in his May budget reply speech and then as a full-blown policy in June.

One said the Opposition Leader’s position had been crystal clear and firm for months.

Internal opponents are more likely to make noise in the party room then abstain from votes, rather than cross the floor.

But former Speaker Andrew Wallace urged his colleagues to “grasp the nettle” on what he described as a totemic issue.

He said meeting with tech peak body DIGI in 2018 “felt like I had just met big tobacco in the 1960s” after hearing their claims to be doing everything they could to deal with potential harms.

“They’ve had their chance and they’ve blown it, and now it’s time for the government to step in,” he said.

DIGI managing director Sunita Bose came under fire from senators during the committee hearing on the bill on Monday, with Liberal Sarah Henderson accusing her of protecting the tech giants.

Mr Wallace feared the issue was being conflated with the friendless misinformation and disinformation laws – dumped by the Government on Sunday due to lack of support – and the separate digital ID project.

“This bill is about protecting young Australians. It is not about big government or big brother,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Parliament had a particular responsibility to young people and an opportunity now to act.

“Let’s seize it. Let’s give children back their childhood. Let’s give parents new peace of mind. Let’s work together. Let’s pass this legislation through the House of Representatives and the Senate this week, and it will be something we can be very proud of,” he said.