Young Aussies aged under 16 will be banned from social media by the end of next year after federal parliament passed world-first legislation.

The Senate passed laws to block under-16s from platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to protect their mental health late on Thursday night.

The bill passed the Senate by 34 votes to 19 on the final parliament sitting day for 2024.

It will return to the House of Representatives – where Anthony Albanese’s government has a majority.

The move comes despite concerns that the proposal was rushed through parliament without proper scrutiny and that Australia would be the first country to implement such a ban.

The new laws raising the social media age limit are regarded as the strictest in the world.

Communications minister Michelle Rowland said the age limit would keep children and teenagers safe online.

‘We know parents are concerned about the harms to children and we have taken a decision to support them,’ she told parliament.

‘Keeping Australians safe online requires decisive action and the Albanese government is delivering exactly that.’

Prime Minister Albanese added: Social media is doing social harm to our children and I want Australian parents to know that we have their backs.

“Platforms now have a social responsibility to ensure the safety of our kids is a priority for them.”

An inquiry into the new laws ran for just three hours, with Australians only given one day to lodge submissions. Critics claimed there was little consultation with those who would be directly affected by the new laws.

Under the new laws, social media giants will face fines up to $50million if they fail to take ‘reasonable steps’ to keep children under the age of 16 away from their platforms.

There are no penalties for parents or children who break the age restrictions.

Messaging apps, online gaming services and ‘services with the primary purpose of supporting the health and education of end-users’ are not included in the ban.

YouTube has also been omitted.

Many critics have questioned how the ban will work, while others have raised concerns about social connection.

The billionaire owner of X, Elon Musk, is among those who have warned that Australia’s new laws will not work.

‘Seems like a backdoor way to control access to the internet by all Australians,’ he recently captioned a retweet of Mr Albanese speaking about the age-limit reforms.

The federal government will rely on age-verification technology to implement the restrictions.

However, many details remain unclear and the technology has not been finalised.

While the bill enjoyed bipartisan support, several Coalition members broke ranks on the issues over concerns that bans on social media were an unjustified restriction on speech and communication and paved the way to broader censorship.

Coalition senators Matt Canavan and Alex Antic crossed the floor to vote with the entire crossbench against the laws on Thursday night, while Liberal Richard Colbeck abstained.

Liberal MP Bridget Archer broke from her party earlier this week to vote against the bill on Wednesday.

The decision to pass the bill followed an hour-long debate with crossbenchers questioning the major parties over the controversial rule.

Suicide Prevention Australia executive director Christopher Stone said the laws had been rushed and would not address the issues of bullying and predation as the government had claimed.

‘The government is running blindfolded into a brick wall by rushing this legislation,’ he said.

‘It has bypassed the rigorous consultation and scrutiny needed for such a far-reaching decision.

‘Young Australians deserve evidence-based policies, not decisions made in haste.

‘This legislation fails to consider the positive aspects of social media in supporting young people’s mental health and sense of connection.’