Before Parliament passed the ban last year, more than 140 Australian and international academics with expertise in fields related to technology and child welfare signed an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opposing a social media age limit as “too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.”

Australia enacted a world-first social media ban Dec. 10, blocking kids under 16 from social media, sparking censorship fears and a major legal challenge.

Australia is set to become the first country to implement a minimum age for social media use on Wednesday, with platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube forced to block more than a million accounts,