Copyright news18
A popular Australian family of content creators with millions of online followers are relocating to the United Kingdom to avoid Australia’s upcoming social media ban for under-16s which is due to take effect in December. Known online as the “Empire Family”, the family consists of mothers Beck and Bec Lea, their 17-year-old son Prezley and 14-year-old daughter Charlotte- all of whom share videos of their daily lives on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. ‘We Use Internet For Good’ In a video explaining the move from Perth to London, Beck said the family supported the intent of the law but are worried about its rollout. “We understand that it’s protecting young people from harm on the internet, but we use the internet for good,” she said, adding, “It covers us while Australia figures out the logistics of that rule because I think there’s going to be a lot of hiccups.” Her wife Bec added that social media had changed since its early days and now allowed young people to “make a difference for good.” The family’s daughter Charlotte, who posts as Charli, has about 500,000 YouTube subscribers, 300,000 TikTok followers and nearly 200,000 on Instagram. The family’s main YouTube channel, “Empire Family,” has 1.8 million subscribers while son Prezley’s personal channel boasts 2.8 million. Australia’s Social Media Ban The legislation- described as one of the world’s toughest- will require platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X and YouTube to take “reasonable steps” to block under-16s from creating accounts and to deactivate existing ones. The measure is aimed at protecting young people from the mental health and privacy harms of social media. Companies that fail to comply could face fines of up to A$50 million. The government has not yet confirmed how the ban will be enforced but proposed options include ID verification, parental consent systems and facial recognition technology.
