Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Thursday that his government would begin proceedings on a rule that would ban social media use for children under 16 years old.

If passed, the Australian rule would be one of the world’s most stringent restrictions on underage social media users. Some European countries have tried to institute similar restrictions, but most younger users can get around them by acquiring parental permission.

In his announcement, the center-left prime minister said that social media can seriously harm the physical and mental health of children and called on the government to enact an age-verification system that would block children from accessing social media sites too early. 

“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” he said. “If you’re a 14-year-old kid getting this stuff, at a time where you’re going through life’s changes and maturing, it can be a really difficult time and what we’re doing is listening and then acting.”

If the rule is enacted, it will require the private social media companies to put reasonable roadblocks in place to restrict access for underage users. The rule will also have no exceptions for underage users who already have social media accounts. 

“The onus won’t be on parents or young people,” he said.

The bill will go to the legislature later this year and, if ratified by Australian lawmakers, will go into effect a year later. 

Platforms that would be affected by the rule include Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, YouTube, X and TikTok.