PlayStation Network may soon be permanently unavailable for millions of you

If you live in Australia, gamers fear the PlayStation Network will be inaccessible due to a social media ban.

Australia’s Prime Minister and Labor government leader Anthony Albanese is looking to change social media laws to protect those under 16. This is great news in some ways because there are a lot of dangerous people online who can hide their identity and use that anonymity to manipulate.

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However, as reported by Push Square (via Press Start), the amended online safety act which looks to be introduced in 2025, would put a countrywide ban on those under 16 years of age from accessing social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

The ban could even be extended to the likes of Twitch and YouTube. What’s more, this ban may even have a direct impact on video game platforms, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live and Nintendo Switch Online.

Albanese proposes to “take reasonable steps to block people under 16” and companies that do not comply with the Australian law could face “maximum fines are less than a million dollars.”

It must be made clear that if a child still accesses social media following the implementation of the new law, it will be the companies liable to face fines and not the child or parents.

What’s more, we’re not sure how the Australian government would prevent someone from creating an account and lying about their age. Sure, some measures will be taken but as we all know, the internet always finds a way.

As a parent of a teenager who only shares an interest in PlayStation, Xbox and YouTube, there are loads of helpful tools that can protect your child online. I know not everything is 100% secure, but if you take responsibility and have a sensible child, in most cases, you’ll be fine.

Protecting our children online is vital but banning some platforms will just encourage those to create a deceitful account and that in itself could pose more risk than a genuine one.